thumbnail drawing

Meanings

1. 1nouncountabletechnical

   a small, rough sketch made to plan a larger drawing or design.

   Grammar: Countable: a thumbnail drawing, thumbnail drawings. Often used in the plural.

   Patterns

   • make a thumbnail drawing
   • draw a thumbnail
   • start with thumbnail drawings

   The artist made several thumbnail drawings before starting the mural.

   In design class, we always begin with thumbnail drawings to explore ideas.

   Her sketchbook is full of thumbnail drawings for future paintings.

2. 2nouncountablecomputing

   a small image that represents a larger picture, especially online.

   Grammar: Often used for digital images: a thumbnail image. 'Thumbnail drawing' is less common here.

   Patterns

   • thumbnail image
   • click the thumbnail

   The website shows a thumbnail drawing of each artwork.

   Click on the thumbnail to see the full-size drawing.

Word forms

Common combinations

make a thumbnail drawing

She made a thumbnail drawing of the scene before painting.

quick thumbnail drawing

He did a quick thumbnail drawing to capture the idea.

series of thumbnail drawings

The architect presented a series of thumbnail drawings.

thumbnail sketch

A thumbnail sketch is similar but can also mean a brief description.

Synonyms and how they differ

thumbnail sketch

Very similar, but can also mean a short written summary.

rough sketch

More general; doesn't specify that it's small like a thumbnail.

Word family

thumbnail noun

A small image or sketch; also the nail on your thumb.

draw verb

To make a picture with lines.

drawing noun

A picture made with lines.

Commonly confused: thumbnail drawing or thumbnail image?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “thumbnail drawing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words