frame
Forms
- present (v1)
- frame
- past (v2)
- framed
- past participle (v3)
- framed
- present participle
- framing
- 3rd person singular
- frames
- Plural
- frames
Definitions
1.To fit, as for a specific end or purpose; make suitable or comfortable; adapt; adjust.
- I will hereafter frame myself to be coy.
- The human mind is framed to be influenced.
- We may in some measure frame our minds for the reception of happiness.
2.To construct by fitting together or uniting various parts; fabricate by union of constituent parts.
3.To bring or put into form or order; adjust the parts or elements of; compose; contrive; plan; devise.
- He began to frame the loveliest countenance he could.
- How many excellent reasonings are framed in the mind of a man of wisdom and study in a length of years.
- As for America’s constitution, speaking as the court’s originalist-in-chief, all that mattered was what its words meant when it was framed.
4.To put together the structural elements of (a constructed object such as a building).
- Once we finish framing the house, we'll hang tin on the roof.
1.The structural elements of a building or other constructed object.
- Now that the frame is complete, we can start on the walls.
2.Anything composed of parts fitted and united together; a fabric; a structure.
3.A human body or the structure thereof; the size, shape, sturdiness etc. of a person's body as described in a certain way; one's build.
- His starved flesh hung loosely on his once imposing frame.
4.A rigid, generally rectangular mounting for paper, canvas or other flexible material.
- The painting was housed in a beautifully carved frame.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2182
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English framen, fremen, fremmen (“to construct, build, strengthen, refresh, perform, execute, profit, avail”), from Old English framian, fremian, fremman (“to profit, avail, advance”), from Proto-West Germanic *frammjan, from Proto-Germanic *framjaną (“to further, promote, perform”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“front, forward”).