- [countable] a strong border or structure of wood, metal, etc. that holds a picture, door, piece of glass, etc. in position
- a picture/photo frame
- aluminium window frames
- I'm going to paint the door frame white.
- She leaned against the frame of the door.
- in a frame pictures in gold frames
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- door
- window
- photo
- …
- in a/the frame
- [countable] the supporting structure of a piece of furniture, a building, a vehicle, etc. that gives it its shape
- a bicycle frame
- The bed frame is made of pine.
- the frame of an aircraft/a car/a bicycle
- In the 1920s, federal office buildings were typically built with steel frames encased in concrete or granite.
- [countable, usually plural] a structure of plastic or metal that holds the lenses in a pair of glasses
- gold-rimmed frames
- [countable, usually singular] the form or structure of a person or animal’s body
- to have a small/slender/large frame
- The bed was shorter than his six-foot frame.
Extra Examples- She has quite a small frame.
- a man with a lean, athletic frame
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- athletic
- big
- bony
- …
- have
- with a… frame
- [singular] the general ideas or structure that form the background to something
- in/within the frame of something In this course we hope to look at literature in the frame of its social and historical context.
- [countable] one of the single photographs that a film or video is made of see also freeze-frameTopics Film and theatrec1
- [countable] a single picture in a comic stripOxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
- door
- window
- photo
- …
- in a/the frame
- [countable] one of the separate areas on an internet page that you can scroll through (= read by moving the text up or down)
- (also cold frame)[countable] a small wooden or metal frame covered with glass that you grow seeds or small plants in to protect them from cold weather
- [countable] a single section of play in the game of snooker, etc., or in bowling
- He won the first frame easily.
border
structure
of glasses
person/animal’s body
general ideas
of film
of picture story
computing
in garden
in snooker/bowling
Word OriginOld English framian ‘be useful’, of Germanic origin and related to from. The general sense in Middle English, ‘make ready for use’, probably led to senses (3 and 4) of the verb; it also gave rise to the specific meaning ‘prepare timber for use in building’, later ‘make the wooden parts (framework) of a building’, hence the noun sense ‘structure’ (late Middle English).
Idioms
See frame in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee frame in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe in/out of the frame (for something) (British English)
- be taking part/not taking part in something
- We won our match, so we're still in the frame for the championship.
- to be wanted/not wanted by the police because you are/are not suspected of having committed a crime
- He was always in the frame for the killing.
Check pronunciation:
frame