film

[ film ]
See synonyms for: filmfilmedfilmingfilms on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a thin layer or coating: a film of grease on a plate.

  2. a thin sheet of any material: a film of ice.

  1. a thin skin or membrane: The whitish film over your eye is a cataract.

  2. a delicate web of filaments or fine threads: The fabric embedded in the polyurethane is essentially a film of fiberglass.

  3. a thin haze, blur, or mist: A pale film of drizzly twilight soon gave way to a dense fog.

  4. Photography.

    • a composition of plastic or similar material made into thin sheets or strips and coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, used for taking photographs.

    • a strip or roll of this.

    • the coating of emulsion on such a sheet or strip or on a photographic plate.

  5. Movies.

    • a strip of transparent material, usually cellulose triacetate, covered with a photographic emulsion and perforated along one or both edges, intended for the recording and reproduction of images.

    • a similar perforated strip covered with an iron oxide emulsion (magfilm ), intended for the recording and reproduction of both images and sound.

    • a movie; motion picture: We decided to stay home and watch a Kurosawa film.

  6. Sometimes films .

    • movies collectively: Film is the quintessential storytelling medium of the 20th century.

    • the movie industry, or its productions, operations, etc.: He wants to get into films as a director.

    • movies as a genre of art or entertainment: experimental film.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cover with a film, thin skin, or pellicle: A bloom of algae films the pond every summer.

  2. Movies.

    • to record in video format as a movie, with or without audio: We didn't know we were being filmed.

    • to make a movie of: to film a novel.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become covered by a film: The water filmed over with ice.

  2. Movies.

    • to be reproduced in video format as a movie, especially in a specified manner: This story films easily.

    • to direct, make, or otherwise engage in the production of movies, TV shows, or other video content: They'll be filming here for the next six months.

Origin of film

1
First recorded before 1000, in 1890–95 for def. 6, and in 1900–05 for def. 7; Middle English filme,Old English filmen membrane; akin to fell4

Other words for film

Other words from film

  • film·like, adjective
  • re·film, verb (used with object)
  • un·filmed, adjective
  • well-filmed, adjective

Words Nearby film

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use film in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for film

film

/ (fɪlm) /


noun
    • a sequence of images of moving objects photographed by a camera and providing the optical illusion of continuous movement when projected onto a screen

    • a form of entertainment, information, etc, composed of such a sequence of images and shown in a cinema, etc

    • (as modifier): film techniques

  1. a thin flexible strip of cellulose coated with a photographic emulsion, used to make negatives and transparencies

  1. a thin coating or layer

  2. a thin sheet of any material, as of plastic for packaging

  3. a fine haze, mist, or blur

  4. a gauzy web of filaments or fine threads

  5. pathol an abnormally opaque tissue, such as the cornea in some eye diseases

verb
    • to photograph with a cine camera

    • to make a film of (a screenplay, event, etc)

  1. (often foll by over) to cover or become covered or coated with a film

Origin of film

1
Old English filmen membrane; related to Old Frisian filmene, Greek pelma sole of the foot; see fell 4

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012