cinema

noun

1. (countable)A movie theatre, a movie house.

   “The cinema is right across the street from the restaurant.”

2. (uncountable)Films collectively.

   “Despite the critics, he produced excellent cinema.”

3. (uncountable)The film and movie industry.

   “In the long history of Spanish cinema[…].”

   “Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The art of making films and movies; cinematography.

   “Throughout the history of cinema, filmmakers[…].”

   “The French and Italian cinemas can seem to persist autonomously—in the sense of being spaces of separate development and marked difference from Hollywood and other national cinemas.”

5. (Internet, uncountable)A sophisticated or exemplary film, representative of the art of cinema.
6. (Internet, broadly, countable, humorous, uncountable)A sophisticated or exemplary film, representative of the art of cinema.

   “That game was absolute cinema.”