Adjacent Words

Suppose definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUPPOSE, v.t. suppo'ze. [L. suppositus, suppono.]
1. To lay down or state as a proposition or fact that may exist or be true, though not known or believed to be true or to exist; or to imagine or admit to exist, for the sake of argument or illustration. Let us suppose the earth to be the center of the system, what would be the consequence?
When we have as great assurance that a thing is, as we could possibly, supposing it were, we ought not to doubt of its existence.
2. To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all young men, the king's sons; for Ammon only is dead. 1 Samuel 13.
3. To imagine; to think.
I suppose,
If our proposals once again were heard--
4. To require to exist or be true. The existence of things supposes the existence of a cause of the things.
One falsehood supposes another, and renders all you say suspected.
5. To put one thing by fraud in the place of another. [Not in use.]
SUPPO'SE, n. Supposition; position without proof.
--Fit to be trusted on a bare suppose
That he is honest. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: express a supposition; "Let us say that he did not tell the truth"; "Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?" [syn: suppose, say]
2: expect, believe, or suppose; "I imagine she earned a lot of money with her new novel"; "I thought to find her in a bad state"; "he didn't think to find her in the kitchen"; "I guess she is angry at me for standing her up" [syn: think, opine, suppose, imagine, reckon, guess]
3: to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds; "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps" [syn: speculate, theorize, theorise, conjecture, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose]
4: take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand; "I presuppose that you have done your work" [syn: presuppose, suppose]
5: require as a necessary antecedent or precondition; "This step presupposes two prior ones" [syn: presuppose, suppose]

Merriam Webster's

verb (supposed; supposing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French supposer, from Medieval Latin supponere (perfect indicative supposui), from Latin, to put under, substitute, from sub- + ponere to put — more at position Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to lay down tentatively as a hypothesis, assumption, or proposal <suppose a fire broke out> <suppose you bring the salad> b. (1) to hold as an opinion ; believe <they supposed they were early> (2) to think probable or in keeping with the facts <seems reasonable to suppose that he would profit> 2. a. conceive, imagine b. to have a suspicion of 3. presuppose intransitive verb conjecture, opine

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (often foll. by that + clause) 1 assume, esp. in default of knowledge; be inclined to think (I suppose they will return; what do you suppose he meant?). 2 take as a possibility or hypothesis (let us suppose you are right). 3 (in imper.) as a formula of proposal (suppose we go to the party). 4 (of a theory or result etc.) require as a condition (design in creation supposes a creator). 5 (in imper. or pres. part. forming a question) in the circumstances that; if (suppose he won't let you; supposing we stay). 6 (as supposed adj.) generally accepted as being so; believed (his supposed brother; generally supposed to be wealthy). 7 (in passive; foll. by to + infin.) a be expected or required (was supposed to write to you). b (with neg.) not have to; not be allowed to (you are not supposed to go in there). Phrases and idioms: I suppose so an expression of hesitant agreement. Derivatives: supposable adj. Etymology: ME f. OF supposer (as SUB-, POSE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suppose Sup*pose", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Supposed; p. pr. & vb. n. Supposing.] [F. supposer; pref. sub- under + poser to place; -- corresponding in meaning to L. supponere, suppositum, to put under, to substitute, falsify, counterfeit. See Pose.] 1. To represent to one's self, or state to another, not as true or real, but as if so, and with a view to some consequence or application which the reality would involve or admit of; to imagine or admit to exist, for the sake of argument or illustration; to assume to be true; as, let us suppose the earth to be the center of the system, what would be the result? Suppose they take offence without a cause. --Shak. When we have as great assurance that a thing is, as we could possibly, supposing it were, we ought not to make any doubt of its existence. --Tillotson. 2. To imagine; to believe; to receive as true. How easy is a bush supposed a bear! --Shak. Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead. --2 Sam. xiii. 32. 3. To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature; as, purpose supposes foresight. One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected. --Female Quixote. 4. To put by fraud in the place of another. [Obs.] Syn: To imagine; believe; conclude; judge; consider; view; regard; conjecture; assume.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suppose Sup*pose", v. i. To make supposition; to think; to be of opinion. --Acts ii. 15.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suppose Sup*pose", n. Supposition. [Obs.] --Shak. ``A base suppose that he is honest.'' --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(supposes, supposing, supposed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You can use suppose or supposing before mentioning a possible situation or action. You usually then go on to consider the effects that this situation or action might have. Suppose someone gave you an egg and asked you to describe exactly what was inside... Supposing he's right and I do die tomorrow? Maybe I should take out an extra insurance policy. VERB: V that, V that 2. If you suppose that something is true, you believe that it is probably true, because of other things that you know. The policy is perfectly clear and I see no reason to suppose that it isn't working... It had been supposed that by then Peter would be married. VERB: V that, it be V-ed that, also V n 3. You can say 'I suppose' when you want to express slight uncertainty. (SPOKEN) I get a bit uptight these days. Hormones, I suppose... I suppose I'd better do some homework... Is that the right way up?—Yeah. I suppose so... There's nothing to keep us here, is there?—I suppose not. PHRASE: oft PHR that, PHR so/not [vagueness] 4. You can say 'I suppose' or 'I don't suppose' before describing someone's probable thoughts or attitude, when you are impatient or slightly angry with them. (SPOKEN) I suppose you think you're funny... PHRASE: PHR that [feelings] 5. You can say 'I don't suppose' as a way of introducing a polite request. (SPOKEN) I don't suppose you could tell me where James Street is could you? PHRASE: PHR that [politeness] 6. You can use 'do you suppose' to introduce a question when you want someone to give their opinion about something, although you know that they are unlikely to have any more knowledge or information about it than you. (SPOKEN) Do you suppose he was telling the truth?... PHRASE: PHR that 7. You can use 'do you suppose' as a polite way of suggesting or requesting that someone does something. Do you suppose we could get together for a little chat sometime soon? PHRASE: PHR that [politeness]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Presume, conceive, apprehend, believe, imagine, consider, deem, think, judge, presuppose, conjecture, conclude. 2. Imply, assume, presuppose, take for granted. 3. Imagine, believe, receive as true, think. II. v. n. Think, imagine, fancy, believe, surmise, conjecture, divine, suspect, presume, opine, ween.

Moby Thesaurus

account, account as, adjudge, adjudicate, allegorize, allow, allude to, assume, be afraid, be judicious, believe, bring to mind, coin, conceit, conceive, conceptualize, conclude, concoct, conjecture, connote, consider, count, create, daresay, deduce, deem, divine, dream, dream up, entail, esteem, estimate, exercise judgment, expect, experience imaginatively, express an opinion, fabricate, fancy, fantasize, feel, fictionalize, form an opinion, gather, grant, guess, hatch, have a hunch, have an idea, have an impression, have an inkling, have the idea, hint, hold, hold as, hypothesize, ideate, imagine, implicate, imply, import, infer, insinuate, intimate, invent, involve, judge, let, let be, look upon as, maintain, mean, mean to say, mold, opine, originate, perhaps, pine, point indirectly to, posit, postulate, prefigure, presume, presuppose, presurmise, pretend, produce, provisionally accept, reckon, regard, repute, say, set down as, shape, speculation, suggest, supposition, surmise, suspect, take, take for, take for granted, take it, take to be, theorize, think, think likely, think of, think up, trow, understand, venture to say, view as, ween