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picture show

picture show

10 2.5
A film shown in a cinema for people to watch
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪk.tʃər ʃoʊ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : película
  • Maybe we ought to take her into town to a picture show sometime.
  • go to the picture show
  • see a picture show
  • the last picture show

Examples

  • Hey, you know what I love about comin' to the picture show during the day? - What? - Makes me feel like I'm playin' hooky from school.

  • Here are some things you might not know about 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'

    Blog text (2)
  • You went to a picture show tonight, alone.

  • The travelling picture show had come to town.

  • I'd read where Dillinger started to run when he saw the cops outside the picture show.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Take them to see the moving picture show at the People's Theater and don't you dare come back until the picture is over.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • I want to see it, but Papa said picture shows cost almost as much as a pair of stockings, and I needed stockings more.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I think about the side door at the picture show here in Crystal Falls, the door that leads one way, straight to the balcony, the colored section.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Do you want to go to the picture show with me Saturday night?

  • The travelling picture show had come to town.

Synonyms

movie
vspicture show
  • US
1.0

A story told with moving pictures on a screen

is the phrase for a recorded story shown specifically as cinema entertainment
film
vspicture show
1.0

A story shown as moving images in a cinema or on screen

is the expression for that same presentation when shown in a cinema
picture
vspicture show
  • Archaic
691 7.7

A movie shown on a screen in a theatre or at home

is the modern idea of that same cinema entertainment
motion picture
vspicture show
83 3.0

A story that uses moving images and sound, like a movie

refers to that same storytelling when exhibited as cinema entertainment
flick
vspicture show
  • Informal
81 4.1

A casual word for a movie you watch at a cinema

is the neutral label for that entertainment when shown in cinemas
viewing
vspicture show
54 2.3

An event when people go to see something like a film or artwork

names the entertainment piece that audiences come to see in cinemas
screening
vspicture show
21 2.8

A showing of a movie for an audience

is the term for the work shown rather than the event of showing it
pic
vspicture show
  • Informal
16 8.1

A movie shown in a cinema or on screen

is the standard phrase for that recorded story shown in cinemas
moving picture
vspicture show
8 3.5

A movie shown on a screen that tells a story

is used when that visual sequence is presented as cinema entertainment
showing
vspicture show
3 2.1

A time when people can watch a film or play

refers to the creative work itself rather than the presentation event
talking picture
vspicture show
  • Archaic
1 7.2

A film with recorded voices and music

is a general cinema entertainment term not limited to early sound technology
moving-picture show
vspicture show
  • Archaic
1 5.5

A show that tells a story with moving images and sound like a movie

is the same concept focused on being shown in a cinema setting
photoplay
vspicture show
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An old word for a movie from the early days of film

is the contemporary term for the same cinematic entertainment
motion-picture show
vspicture show
2.9

A public show where moving pictures and sound tell a story, like a film at a cinema

names that entertainment specifically when shown to a cinema audience

How Long

epic tale
  • Literature
1 5.2
feature film
40 2.8
picture show
  • Archaic
10 2.5
short subject
  • US
2 6.5

Surface Forms

picture show singular
picture shows plural

Morphology

picture + show

The meaning 'a motion picture/film' is directly compositionally predictable from 'picture' (a moving image or film) + 'show' (an event presented to an audience): together they denote a show consisting of pictures, i.e. a movie. This straightforward noun+noun compound follows common compositional patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Picture show comes from the early days when people watched moving pictures presented as a show on a screen. So the phrase became a simple way to mean a 'movie' or 'film' shown for entertainment.