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intr.v. ap·peared, ap·pear·ing, ap·pears 1. a. To become visible: a plane appearing in the sky. b. To be shown or included: That logo appears on all their sports equipment. 2. To come into existence: New strains of viruses appear periodically. 3. To give the impression of being in a certain way; seem: The child appeared unhappy. 4. To be likely or evident: It appears that they will be late. 5. To come or perform before the public: has appeared in two plays. 6. Law To present oneself formally before a court as defendant, plaintiff, or counsel. 7. To be published or made available to the public: The novel first appeared in installments in a magazine. [Middle English aperen, from Old French aparoir, aper-, from Latin appārēre : ad-, ad- + pārēre, to show.] Synonyms: appear, emerge, issue, loom1, materialize, show These verbs mean to come into view. Appear and show are the most general: A ship appeared on the horizon. Her shirtsleeve shows at the edge of her jacket. Emerge indicates appearing after having been obscured from view by something: "Baby sea turtles emerged from the sand to scramble to the sea" (Julia Whitty). Issue emphasizes the point of origin of whatever is appearing: "Here and there smoke issued from chimneys" (Jeffrey Tayler). To loom is to come into view as a massive, distorted, or indistinct image, and often that which looms is considered threatening in some way: As the hikers near the mountain's summit, storm clouds loom over the horizon. Materialize means to appear suddenly and sometimes mysteriously, as if out of nowhere: "The field ... had been empty the day before when he walked around the city. The circus has simply materialized" (Erin Morgenstern). |
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