Pictures are of paramount significance and interest to the dictionary users. This study addresses the issue of the use of pictorial illustrations in Urdu dictionaries available on the market. Pictorial illustration definitely aids in giving clear concept of words and enhances word sense disambiguation as the graphic demonstrations are easier to comprehend than complexities of words. Each word possesses a particular structure and form. With the intention of intelligibility and interpretations of different shapes of words, their proper sequence, and their synonyms, the dictionaries are brought into being. Dictionaries provide words but lack in usage. Most of the words are scholarly items and are in sparing use of mere scholars and philosophers. According to Al-Kasimi (1977), the use of pictorial illustrations should not be arbitrary and incidental. Meaning recognition job is made easy with graphic illustrations. To ascertain to what degree and for what ends, Urdu dictionaries exercise graphic demonstrations, a survey, based on Stein (1991), was executed. The dictionaries were indiscriminately singled out and looked into for any type of graphic demonstration. This practice was made to know about the dictionaries which deploy pictures for the purpose of illustration. This analysis reflected on the disposal of the demonstrations. Based on the survey, it has been found that not many of the existing dictionaries engage graphic demonstrations authentically. There were found a lot more discrepancies in Urdu dictionaries regarding the use of pictorial illustrations. The study concludes that ostensive addressing is a crucial lexicographical device to assist the lexicographer magnanimously to communicate all the requisite constituents and facets of headwords (lemmas).

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