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, esp. 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.
a particular state, as of the mind: an unhappy frame of mind.
8.
Movies. one of the successive pictures on a strip of film.
9.
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 1/30second. Compare field(def. 19).
10.
Computers. the information or image on a screen or monitor at any one time.
11.
Bowling.
a.
one of the ten divisions of a game.
b.
one of the squares on the scorecard, in which the score for a given frame is recorded.
enclosing lines, usually forming a square or rectangle, to set off printed matter in a newspaper, magazine, or the like; a box.
16.
the structural unit that supports the chassis of an automobile.
17.
Nautical.
a.
any of a number of transverse, riblike members for supporting and stiffening the shell of each side of a hull.
b.
any of a number of longitudinal members running between web frames to support and stiffen the shell plating of a metal hull.
18.
a machine or part of a machine supported by a framework, esp. as used in textile production: drawing frame; spinning frame.
19.
Printing. the workbench of a compositor, consisting of a cabinet, cupboards, bins, and drawers, and having flat and sloping work surfaces on top.
20.
Bookbinding. an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books.
21.
in frame, Shipbuilding. (of a hull) with all frames erected and ready for planking or plating.
–verb (used with object)
22.
to form or make, as by fitting and uniting parts together; construct.
23.
to contrive, devise, or compose, as a plan, law, or poem: to frame a new constitution.
24.
to conceive or imagine, as an idea.
25.
Informal. to incriminate (an innocent person) through the use of false evidence, information, etc.
26.
to provide with or put into a frame, as a picture.
27.
to give utterance to: Astonished, I attempted to frame adequate words of protest.
28.
to form or seem to form (speech) with the lips, as if enunciating carefully.
29.
to fashion or shape: to frame a bust from marble.
30.
to shape or adapt to a particular purpose: to frame a reading list for ninth graders.
31.
Informal. to contrive or prearrange fraudulently or falsely, as in a scheme or contest.
32.
to adjust (film) in a motion-picture projector so as to secure exact correspondence of the outlines of the frame and aperture.
33.
to line up visually in a viewfinder or sight.
34.
Archaic. to direct, as one's steps.
–verb (used without object)
35.
Archaic. to betake oneself; resort.
36.
Archaic. to prepare, attempt, give promise, or manage to do something.
[Origin: bef. 1000; 1910–15 for def. 8;1920–25 for def. 25; (v.) ME framen to prepare (timber), OE framian to avail, profit; c. ON frama to further, OHG (gi)framōn to do; (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.]
cold frame, in horticulture, sun-heated board frame covered with a removable top of glass or other transparent material and sunk into the ground. The top may be solid or slatted or screened for shade. The cold frame is used to start seedlings in early spring (four to six weeks before the average frost-free date), to harden seedlings or plants removed from greenhouses or hotbeds, and to protect plants during the winter. A hotbed is an artificially heated cold frame.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/r/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [freym] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, framed, fram·ing. 