Descriptors or Definitions

When we started this exercise we were intent on providing revised definitions for some of the values. After observing the flow of our dialogue I'm now of the opinion that we would be better coming from a mindset whereby we see ourselves providing descriptors for the values.
     What's the difference?

• definition—a concise explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase or symbol
• descriptor—a word or expression used to describe or identify something.

     I always remember the saying,"the Tao expressed is not the Tao." In other words, by the very nature of trying to write a definition for value we are constraining the value to less than it is or can be.
     So it seems to me that, taking the lead from the definition of a descriptor, our objective should be to provide sufficient information about each value so a person can easily identify it.
     An alternate definition of descriptor, from WordNet, is: "a piece of stored information that is used to identify an item in an information storage and retrieval system."
     When I read this I immediately thought, "that's what values' descriptors are all about!" - i.e. "A value descriptor is a piece of information that is used to identify a particular value."
     So this exercise is not about providing precise definitions for each value, rather, it's about providing a sufficiently detailed descriptor for each value such that people have no difficulty distinguishing one value from another.
    What do you think?