frame

[ freym ]

noun

1. a border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror, etc.
2. a rigid structure formed of relatively slender pieces, joined so as to surround sizable empty spaces or nonstructural panels, and generally used as a major support in building or engineering works, machinery, furniture, etc.
3. a body, especially a human body, with reference to its size or build; physique:

   He has a large frame.

4. a structure for admitting or enclosing something:

   a window frame.

5. Usually frames. (used with a plural verb) the framework for a pair of eyeglasses.
6. form, constitution, or structure in general; system; order.
7. Movies. one of the successive pictures on a strip of film.
8. Television. a single traversal by the electron beam of all the scanning lines on a television screen. In the U.S. this is a total of 525 lines traversed in 1/30 (0.033) second. Compare field ( def 19 ).
9. Computers. the information or image on a screen or monitor at any one time.
10. Bowling.
    1. one of the ten divisions of a game.
    2. one of the squares on the scorecard, in which the score for a given frame is recorded.
11. Pool. rack ¹( def 3 ).
12. Baseball. an inning.
13. Slang. a frame-up.
14. enclosing lines, usually forming a square or rectangle, to set off printed matter in a newspaper, magazine, or the like; a box.
15. the structural unit that supports the chassis of an automobile.
16. Nautical.
    1. any of a number of transverse, riblike members for supporting and stiffening the shell of each side of a hull.
    2. any of a number of longitudinal members running between web frames to support and stiffen the shell plating of a metal hull.
17. a machine or part of a machine supported by a framework, especially as used in textile production: spinning frame.

    drawing frame;

    spinning frame.

18. Printing. the workbench of a compositor, consisting of a cabinet, cupboards, bins, and drawers, and having flat and sloping work surfaces on top.
19. Bookbinding. an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books.
20. in frame, Shipbuilding. (of a hull) with all frames erected and ready for planking or plating.

verb (used with object)

, framed, fram·ing.

1. to form or make, as by fitting and uniting parts together; construct.
2. to contrive, devise, or compose, as a plan, law, or poem:

   to frame a new constitution.

3. to conceive or imagine, as an idea.
4. Informal. to incriminate (an innocent person) through the use of false evidence, information, etc.
5. to provide with or put into a frame, as a picture.
6. to give utterance to:

   Astonished, I attempted to frame adequate words of protest.

7. to form or seem to form (speech) with the lips, as if enunciating carefully.
8. to fashion or shape:

   to frame a bust from marble.

9. to shape or adapt to a particular purpose:

   to frame a reading list for ninth graders.

10. Informal. to contrive or prearrange fraudulently or falsely, as in a scheme or contest.
11. to adjust (film) in a motion-picture projector so as to secure exact correspondence of the outlines of the frame and aperture.
12. to line up visually in a viewfinder or sight.
13. Archaic. to direct, as one's steps.

verb (used without object)

, framed, fram·ing.

1. Archaic. to betake oneself; resort.
2. Archaic. to prepare, attempt, give promise, or manage to do something.

Frame

¹

/ freɪm /

noun

1. FrameJanet19242004FNew ZealandWRITING: writer Janet . 1924–2004, and New Zealand writer: author of the novels Owls Do Cry (1957) and Faces in the Water (1961), the collection of verse The Pocket (1967), and volumes of autobiography including An Angel at My Table (1984), which was made into a film in 1990

frame

²

/ freɪm /

noun

1. an open structure that gives shape and support to something, such as the transverse stiffening ribs of a ship's hull or an aircraft's fuselage or the skeletal beams and uprights of a building
2. an enclosing case or border into which something is fitted

   the frame of a picture

3. the system around which something is built up

   the frame of government

4. the structure of the human body
5. a condition; state (esp in the phrase frame of mind )
6. 1. one of a series of individual exposures on a strip of film used in making motion pictures
   2. an individual exposure on a film used in still photography
   3. an individual picture in a comic strip
7. 1. a television picture scanned by one or more electron beams at a particular frequency
   2. the area of the picture so formed
8. billiards snooker
   1. the wooden triangle used to set up the balls
   2. the balls when set up
   3. a single game finished when all the balls have been potted US and Canadian equivalent (for senses 8a, 8b)rack
9. computing (on a website) a self-contained section that functions independently from other parts; by using frames, a website designer can make some areas of a website remain constant while others change according to the choices made by the internet user
10. short for cold frame
11. one of the sections of which a beehive is composed, esp one designed to hold a honeycomb
12. a machine or part of a machine over which yarn is stretched in the production of textiles
13. (in language teaching, etc) a syntactic construction with a gap in it, used for assigning words to syntactic classes by seeing which words may fill the gap
14. statistics an enumeration of a population for the purposes of sampling, esp as the basis of a stratified sample
15. (in telecommunications, computers, etc) one cycle of a regularly recurring number of pulses in a pulse train
16. slang.
    another word for frame-up
17. obsolete.
    shape; form
18. in the frame
    likely to be awarded or to achieve

    I'm in the frame for the top job

verb

1. to construct by fitting parts together
2. to draw up the plans or basic details for; outline

   to frame a policy

3. to compose, contrive, or conceive

   to frame a reply

4. to provide, support, or enclose with a frame

   to frame a picture

5. to form (words) with the lips, esp silently
6. slang.
   to conspire to incriminate (someone) on a false charge
7. slang.
   to contrive the dishonest outcome of (a contest, match, etc); rig
8. dialect.
   intr
   1. usually imperative or dependent imperative to make an effort
   2. to have ability

Derived Forms

• ˈframable, adjective
• ˈframer, noun
• ˈframeless, adjective

Other Words From

• fram·a·ble frame·a·ble adjective
• fram·a·ble·ness frame·a·ble·ness noun
• frame·less adjective
• fram·er noun
• de·frame verb (used with object) deframed deframing
• mis·frame verb misframed misframing
• re·frame verb (used with object) reframed reframing
• sub·frame noun
• un·fram·a·ble adjective
• un·fram·a·ble·ness noun
• un·fram·a·bly adverb
• un·frame·a·ble adjective
• un·frame·a·ble·ness noun
• un·frame·a·bly adverb
• un·framed adjective
• well-framed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of frame¹

First recorded before 1000; 1910–15 frame fordef 7; 1920–25 frame fordef 24; (verb) Middle English framen “to prepare (timber),” Old English framian “to avail, profit”; cognate with Old Norse frama “to further,” Old High German (gi)framōn “to do”; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of frame¹

Old English framiae to avail; related to Old Frisian framia to carry out, Old Norse frama

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. frame of mind. frame of mind.

Example Sentences

After the repeal, the carryover effect of plastic bag purchases declined gradually and did not revert to the pre-policy baseline after 18 months, which was the end of the researchers' analysis time frame.

From Science Daily

He framed humor as an act of self-aggrandizement premised on the debasement of others.

From Salon

The famous primatologist and conservationist settles into a high-backed chair that dwarfs her slender frame.

From BBC

Advisers have cautioned surrogates and allies to keep the charged term out of their remarks, Rolling Stone claims, to avoid “the concentration camps framing” that dogged Trump's campaign.

From Salon

It came within feet of the house — so close and so hot that it warped window frames.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• body
• cage
• fabric
• framework
• physique
• scaffolding
• structure