Cameo
a technique of engraving upon a gem or other stone, as onyx, in such a way that an underlying stone of one color is exposed as a background for a low-relief design of another color.
a gem or other stone so engraved.
a literary sketch, small dramatic scene, or the like, that effectively presents or depicts its subject.
Also called cameo role. a minor part played by a prominent performer in a single scene of a motion picture or a television play.
Contemporary Examples
What Was Netanyahu Thinking? Peter Beinart January 21, 2013
What Newt Gingrich Can Do for Mitt Romney Matt Latimer August 8, 2012
Lindsay Lohan Due in Court for Allegedly Lying to Cops Over Car Crash Anna Klassen March 17, 2013
The Vipers of Tinseltown Lee Siegel July 17, 2009
Arizona’s White Supremacist Problem Terry Greene Sterling July 22, 2010
Historical Examples
Roman Women Alfred Brittain
My Double Life Sarah Bernhardt
Louisiana Lou William West Winter
Rope Holworthy Hall
Martin Hewitt, Investigator Arthur Morrison
noun (pl) cameos
a medallion, as on a brooch or ring, with a profile head carved in relief
(as modifier): a cameo necklace
an engraving upon a gem or other stone of at least two differently coloured layers, such as sardonyx, so carved that the background is of a different colour from the raised design
a stone with such an engraving
a single and often brief dramatic scene played by a well-known actor or actress in a film or television play
(as modifier): a cameo role
a short literary work or dramatic sketch
(as modifier): a cameo sketch
n.
computer-aided management of emergency operations
Read Also:
- Cameo-glass
an ornamental glass in which two layers, often blue and opaque white, have been cased, and on which the design has been treated in the manner of a cameo.
- Cameo-lighting
noun
- Cameo-ware
jasper1 (def 2). a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings. Also called jasper ware, cameo ware. a fine, hard stoneware introduced c1775 by Wedgwood, stained various colors by metallic oxides, with raised designs in white. noun jasper ware with applied decoration of classical motifs, resembling a cameo […]
- Camera
a boxlike device for holding a film or plate sensitive to light, having an aperture controlled by a shutter that, when opened, admits light enabling an object to be focused, usually by means of a lens, on the film or plate, thereby producing a photographic image. (in a television transmitting apparatus) the device in which […]
- Cameralist
any of the mercantilist economists or public servants in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries who held that the economic power of a nation can be enhanced by increasing its monetary wealth, as by the accumulation of bullion.