Dictionary Definition
perform
Verb
1 carry out or perform an action; "John did the
painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters"; "the skater
executed a triple pirouette"; "she did a little dance" [syn:
execute, do]
2 perform a function; "Who will perform the
wedding?"
3 give a performance (of something); "Horowitz is
performing at Carnegie Hall tonight"; "We performed a popular
Gilbert and Sullivan opera"
4 get (something) done; "I did my job" [syn:
do]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɔː(r)m
Verb
- To do something
- The scientists performed several experiments.
- It took him only twenty minutes to perform the task.
- The scientists performed several experiments.
- To do something in front of an audience in order to entertain
it.
- She will perform in the play
- The magician performed badly - none of his tricks worked.
- The string quartet performed three pieces by Haydn.
- The magician performed badly - none of his tricks worked.
- She will perform in the play
Translations
to do something
to do something in front of an audience
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
A performance, in performing
arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people
(the performer or performers) behave in a particular way for
another group of people (the audience). Sometimes the
dividing line between performer and the audience may become
blurred, as in the example of "participatory
theatre" where audience members might get involved in the
production. Singing choral
music, and performing in a ballet are examples. Usually the
performers participate in rehearsals beforehand.
Afterwards audience members often clap, indicating appreciation.
However, sometimes this rule is reversed. In Japan, the greatest
compliment is complete silence.
Performances, for example in theatre, can take place daily,
or at some other regular interval.
Performances can take place at someone's house, in a subway, or
even at a dollar store. Talent, on the other
hand, is subjective.
Performance genres
Examples of performance genres include:
- musical genres:
- theatrical genres:
- other genres:
A music
performance (a concert or a recital) may take place indoors
in a concert hall
or outdoors in a field, and may require the audience to remain very
quiet, or encourage them to sing and dance along with the music.
A performance may also describe the way in which
an actor performs. In a
solo capacity, it may also refer to a mime artist,
comedian, conjurer, or other entertainer.
perform in Azerbaijani: İfa
perform in German: Aufführung
perform in Esperanto: Spektaklo
perform in Lithuanian: Performansas
perform in Tajik: Намоиш
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accompany, accomplish, achieve, act, act a part, act as, act as
foil, act out, affect,
ape, appear, attain, barnstorm, be effective, be in
action, be productive, behave, betoken, brandish, breathe, bring about, bring
forth, bring forward, bring into being, bring into view, bring off,
bring out, bring to fruition, bring to notice, carry into
execution, carry on, carry out, carry through, carry to completion,
cause, chord, come out, compass, complete, concertize, conduct, consummate, cope with,
copy, dangle, deal with, demonstrate, depict, develop, discharge, disclose, discourse, dispatch, display, dispose of, divulge, do, do duty, do the job, do the
trick, do up brown, dramatize, effect, effectuate, embody, emote, emotionalize, enact, end, engineer, evidence, evince, execute, exhibit, expose to view,
express, fetch, finish, flaunt, flourish, fulfill, function, get top billing, give
sign, give token, go,
handle, have effect, have
free play, have play, highlight, illuminate, impersonate, implement, incarnate, indicate, industrialize, interpret, knock off, make, make clear, make music, make
plain, manage, manifest, masquerade as,
mass-produce, materialize, mean, militate, mime, mimic, mount, officiate, operate, overproduce, pantomime, parade, pass for, patter, percolate, perform as,
perk, personate, play, play a part, play by ear,
play the lead, playact,
polish off, pose as, practice, present, pretend to be, produce, pull off, put away, put
on, react, realize, register, render, represent, respond, reveal, roll out, run, serve, set forth, show, show forth, sketch, spotlight, stage, star, steal the show, stooge, succeed, symphonize, take, take care of, take effect,
take off, tick, token, transact, tread the boards,
trot out, troupe, turn
the trick, unfold,
upstage, volume-produce,
wave, wind up, work, work out