the dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, especially in dim light (尤指在暗淡光线中浅色背景下的)黑色轮廓像;剪影 ■a representation of someone or something showing the shape and outline only, typically coloured in solid black 轮廓
verb
[with obj.](一般作be silhouetted)cast or show (someone or something) as a dark shape and outline against a lighter background 把…画成黑色轮廓像;使现出影像(或轮廓) the castle was silhouetted against the sky. 天空映衬出城堡的轮廓。
常用词组 in silhouette
seen or placed as a silhouette 呈轮廓状;成剪影
语源
late 18th cent.: named (although the reason remains obscure) after étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician