thumbnail sketch


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thumbnail sketch

1. A small picture that presents a smaller version of a larger image or proposed image. Before fully redesigning the layout of the office, the interior designer provided me with a thumbnail sketch of his initial plans.
2. A short description or preview. Class, each of you will need to submit a thumbnail sketch of your essay topic for my approval.
See also: sketch, thumbnail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

a thumbnail sketch

a brief or small picture or description. The manager gave a thumbnail sketch of her plans. The student wrote a thumbnail sketch of his project.
See also: sketch, thumbnail
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

thumbnail sketch

A brief outline or cursory description, as in Let me give you a thumbnail sketch of the situation. This idiom alludes to drawing a picture no larger than a thumbnail. [Mid-1800s]
See also: sketch, thumbnail
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

thumbnail sketch

n. a quick and concise description. (One that could be written on someone’s thumbnail.) Let me give you a thumbnail sketch of what happened.
See also: sketch, thumbnail
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
This is a thumbnail sketch of Randolph Trumbach's first volume of an ambitious and sustained exploration of sexuality in eighteenth-century London.
Sex and the Gender Revolution. Volume One: Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment London
So his method of contending with the issues in his book, while incorporating statistics where appropriate, is to give a thumbnail sketch of an individual's theories (Foucault, Derrida, Bloom, deMan -- you name it) that is marvelously clear, and then to show how someone else took a bit from here, a bit from there, and moved "forward" (though the reader is often left wondering about the direction, as Kernan wishes).
In Plato's Cave
Father Mohammed, a Jesuit priest, devotes the first chapter to an orthodox thumbnail sketch of Islamic history, scripture, and belief.
Muslim-Christian Relations: Past, Present, Future
Many of the items on display have been used to illustrate this new A4-sized, 60-page museum guide, which serves a dual purpose as a thumbnail sketch of British racing itself.
A superb sketch of British racing; BOOK REVIEW
In his book The Moral Animal, Robert Wright provides a thumbnail sketch of how this process might work:
A new father's story
The thumbnail sketch of the entrepreneur (p28) provides a role model that few human beings could aspire to, and the statistics on small business failure which follow, while realistic, could not be considered encouraging to many people.
How to Set Up and Run Your Own Small Business, Twelfth Edition
Develop a thumbnail sketch of the company, including its business, its industry, its size and the names of key officers.
A road map for developing new clients
We presented the government with a thumbnail sketch of what the new corporation could be and we wanted $2-million to flesh this out.
Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation: its rise and demise: an interview with Garry Toth
The novel begins with his list of top five heartbreaks, which he annotates, thus giving the reader a thumbnail sketch of Rob's life.
Nick Hornby. High Fidelity
Based on the study, a thumbnail sketch of the typical chain drug store is a suburban outlet from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet that more often than not offers such ancillary services as home delivery and money-order sales.
NACDS survey: health care reform seen as threat
I gave him a brief thumbnail sketch of William Faulkner--Mississippian, great writer, appreciator of the soil and good bourbon--before quoting what Faulkner had written of the mule: 'He will work for you patiently for ten years for the chance to kick you once.' The Old Man cackled in delight.
New York Days
Green (who is credited with the introductions and notes) gives a useful, though irritatingly presented, thumbnail sketch of Jacob's life and work in her eight-page general introduction.
Hesitant Fire: Selected Prose of Max Jacob
offers an excellent thumbnail sketch of Grail's history with its spiritually rich and politically responsive developments in recent years, including the introduction of neopaganism, holistic health, and ecofeminism in the 1980s.
Springs of Water in a Dry Land: Spiritual Survival for Catholic Women Today
Obviously, the bigger the company the more information is generally available, nevertheless here is a thumbnail sketch of many of the food businesses in the UK and it demonstrates what they have been doing in the last two years.
A Guide to the British Food Manufacturing Industry
The remainder of this article provides a thumbnail sketch of the IRS's current expert systems projects.
Expert systems in the tax department
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