Definition of "sketch" []

• A hasty or undetailed drawing or painting often made as a preliminary study. (noun)
• A brief general account or presentation; an outline. (noun)
• A brief, light, or informal literary composition, such as an essay or a short story. (noun)
• Music A brief composition, especially for the piano. (noun)
• A short, often satirical scene or play in a revue or variety show; a skit. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As the title sketch of a Mark Twain collection, its popularity was practically guaranteed in advance."
• "Yet he read, without complaint and without a fee from his wealthy protégé, not only the title sketch but twenty-seven other pieces, recommending eighteen for the collection—some eighty thousand words.30 Osgood hustled it all into a June printing."
• "It wasn't so very long ago that mere mention of the phrase "sketch show" was enough to usher a blitzkrieg of yawns from even the most dedicated"