Hitch‧cock, Sir Al‧fred /ˈhɪtʃkɒk $ -kɑːk, ˈælfrəd/
(1899–1980) a British film director who is considered to be one of the greatest and who made films in the UK and then in Hollywood, for almost 50 years. He made thrillers (=films that tell exciting stories about crime and murder) such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963). He is famous for his use of suspense (=a feeling of fear and excitement that you have when you expect that something bad is going to happen) and for appearing for a very short time in each of his films as an unimportant character. People sometimes use the word ‘Hitchcockian’ to describe a story or situation in which there is a lot of suspense.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲