Crossword Genius

Paint a verbal picture of some French member in church (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

describe

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'paint a verbal picture' is the definition.
'describe' can be an answer for 'paint' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'a verbal picture' bit.

'some french member in church' is the wordplay.
'some french' becomes 'des' ('some' in French).
'member' becomes 'rib' (I have seen 'structural member' mean 'rib' so perhaps 'member' could also mean 'rib').
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'rib' going into 'ce' is 'cribe'.
'des'+'cribe'='DESCRIBE'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for describe that I've seen before include "Give an account of in words" , "Outline" , "Draw (figure); give account of" , "Report in detail" , "Draw (a geometrical figure)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Mail.
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