de·lin·ea·tion | \ di-ˌli-nē-ˈā-shən 
, dē- \
, dē- \Definition of delineation
1 : the act of outlining or representing something with lines or words : the act of delineating the delineation of a scene … the delineation of the territories allotted to the seven tribes of Israel …— Adam Nicholson
2 : something made by delineating
a photographic delineation of low life— T. S. Eliot
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Other Words from delineation
delineative \ di-ˈli-nē-ˌā-tiv , dē- \ adjective
, dē- \ adjective
Examples of delineation in a Sentence
his simple but striking delineations of Dutch landscapes
a finely wrought delineation of a young woman's first experience with romantic love
Recent Examples on the Web Crowley’s somewhat monotonous writing needs more subtle delineation in performance.
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Charles Mcnulty, Detroit Free Press, "Jim Parsons heads cast of Netflix’s solid remake of gay classic ‘The Boys in the Band’," 30 Sep. 2020 Greece wants islands to be taken into account in the delineation of a country’s continental shelf, in line with the United Nations Law of the Sea, which Turkey hasn’t signed.
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Patrick Sykes, Bloomberg.com, "Hackers Target Greek Newspaper for ‘Insulting’ Erdogan," 19 Sep. 2020 One of the pleasures of Tomlinson’s book lies in encountering the unvarnished details of Goya’s life; her delineation of the artist’s remarkably flexible political allegiances is especially engrossing.
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Andrew Martin, Harper's Magazine, "New Books," 15 Sep. 2020 Now the delineation is east and west, including between liberal San Francisco and towns such as Oroville, now threatened by fire.
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Washington Post, "Warmer. Burning. Epidemic-challenged. Expensive. The California Dream has become the California Compromise.," 12 Sep. 2020 Among the seven Bay Area counties that have the state’s worst delineation at purple, Alameda is the only one that did not open indoor salons this week.
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Rusty Simmons, SFChronicle.com, "SF unveils reopening plan for schools, businesses, churches," 1 Sep. 2020 Khalid dismissed the delineation of his father as mere spin.
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Fox News, "Family of children 'kidnapped' in Saudi calls on government for proof of life," 15 Aug. 2020 For most of us, there's a stark delineation between before and after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
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Rosemary Donahue, Allure, "How the Pandemic Has Affected Fall Hair Color Trends," 12 Aug. 2020 But for the most part, the delineation is remarkably consistent.
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Aradhna Krishna, The Conversation, "How did ‘white’ become a metaphor for all things good?," 6 July 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delineation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for delineation
The first known use of delineation was in 1570
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