Conceive
[kən'siːv] or [kən'siv]
Definition
(verb.) become pregnant; undergo conception; 'She cannot conceive'; 'My daughter was conceived in Christmas Day'.
Typist: Naomi--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To receive into the womb and begin to breed; to begin the formation of the embryo of.
(v. t.) To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope.
(v. t.) To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand.
(v. i.) To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant.
(v. i.) To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; -- with of.
Editor: Miles
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Imagine, devise, think of, form in the mind.[2]. Apprehend, suppose, think.
v. n. [1]. Become pregnant.[2]. Think, imagine, have an idea, form a conception.
Typed by Angelo
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Imagine, apprehend, believe, suppose, design, think, understand
ANT:Produce, express, propound, declare, execute, misconceive
Checker: Neil
Definition
v.t. to receive into and form in the womb: to form in the mind: to imagine or think: to understand: to express.—v.i. to become pregnant: to think.—ns. Conceivabil′ity Conceiv′ableness.—adj. Conceiv′able that may be conceived understood or believed.—adv. Conceiv′ably.—adj. Conceived′ imagined thought.
Checker: Uriah
Examples
- Whatever is absurd is unintelligible; nor is it possible for the imagination to conceive any thing contrary to a demonstration. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I can not conceive of such a thing as Genoa in ruins. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I could not conceive or believe: it was more like an inspiration. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I cannot conceive how I can be guilty of such heartless unfeeling behaviour! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It was this, I conceive, which led to the Shade's being advised by the gallery to turn over! Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I conceive a conditional engagement to be null and void, when the conditions are not fulfilled. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- He could not conceive of anything being created from nothing. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- It was a tawdry and ill-conceived imitation. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- His ambition was to restore the empire of Jengis Khan as he conceived it, a project in which he completely failed. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- He was miraculously conceived through his mother dreaming of a beautiful white elephant! H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- From this quality it is easily conceived why it should be connected with the sense of beauty. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I conceived the idea that the time when the banns were read and when the clergyman said, Ye are now to declare it! Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- My aunt conceived a great attachment for her, by which she was induced to give her an education superior to that which she had at first intended. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- I conceived the happy idea of disappearing. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I had come in with an idea of distinguishing myself rather, conceiving that I was very well prepared; but it turned out to be quite a mistake. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I hastened to drive from my mind the hateful notion I had been conceiving respecting Grace Poole; it disgusted me. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Such an inference would amount to knowledge, and would imply the absolute contradiction and impossibility of conceiving any thing different. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- All said I was wicked, and perhaps I might be so; what thought had I been but just conceiving of starving myself to death? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- All her dear plans were embittered, and she thought with disgust of Sir James's conceiving that she recognized him as her lover. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Or is the Idea of Good another mode of conceiving God? Plato. The Republic.
- Let him aid his fancy by conceiving these points to be of different colours, the better to prevent their coalition and confusion. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- A young man naturally conceives an aversion to labour, when for a long time he receives no benefit from it. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The day is not yet far spent when he conceives it to be necessary that her rooms should be prepared for her. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- When Woodrow Wilson argues that social problems are not susceptible to treatment in a party program, he must mean only one thing: that they cannot be handled by the state as he conceives it. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The imagination conceives the simple object at once, with facility, by a single effort of thought, without change or variation. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Prince John's face flushed with the pride of a spoilt child, who has undergone what it conceives to be an insult. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Editor: Maris