Library / English Dictionary

SUPPOSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expect, believe, or suppose

Example:

I guess she is angry at me for standing her up

Synonyms:

guess; imagine; opine; reckon; suppose; think

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "suppose" is one way to...):

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppose"):

suspect (hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

supposal; supposition (the cognitive process of supposing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

Example:

Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps

Synonyms:

conjecture; hypothecate; hypothesise; hypothesize; speculate; suppose; theorise; theorize

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "suppose" is one way to...):

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppose"):

construct; reconstruct; retrace (reassemble mentally)

develop; explicate; formulate (elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

supposal; supposition (the cognitive process of supposing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Require as a necessary antecedent or precondition

Example:

This step presupposes two prior ones

Synonyms:

presuppose; suppose

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "suppose" is one way to...):

imply (suggest as a logically necessary consequence; in logic)

Domain category:

logic (the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand

Example:

I presuppose that you have done your work

Synonyms:

presuppose; suppose

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "suppose" is one way to...):

assume; presume; take for granted (take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppose"):

posit; postulate (take as a given; assume as a postulate or axiom)

premise; premiss (take something as preexisting and given)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 5

Meaning:

Express a supposition

Example:

Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?

Synonyms:

say; suppose

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "suppose" is one way to...):

speculate (talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They suppose that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

supposal (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)

supposition (a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence)

Credits

 Context examples: 

However, according to a researcher at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Switzerland, these concepts may be no longer valid: the phenomena they are supposed to describe can be demonstrated without them.

(There May Be No Dark Matter, Dark Energy in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Look at that creature, and suppose it possible if you can.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

You must suppose me designed for some profession, and might perceive that I am neither a lawyer, nor a soldier, nor a sailor.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“You fear, I suppose, that it might lead to his detection?” asked the lawyer.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“I suppose we ought to call the police in now,” said he.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh! you mean Jane, I suppose, because he danced with her twice.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I suppose we were company to each other, without talking.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And I suppose some one else makes your bed for you?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It would be rash to suppose that we can give a name to all that we are likely to meet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)