Doubt
[daʊt]
Definition
(noun.) uncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of something; 'the dubiousness of his claim'; 'there is no question about the validity of the enterprise'.
(noun.) the state of being unsure of something.
(verb.) consider unlikely or have doubts about; 'I doubt that she will accept his proposal of marriage'.
(verb.) lack confidence in or have doubts about; 'I doubt these reports'; 'I suspect her true motives'; 'she distrusts her stepmother'.
Typist: Toni--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To waver in opinion or judgment; to be in uncertainty as to belief respecting anything; to hesitate in belief; to be undecided as to the truth of the negative or the affirmative proposition; to b e undetermined.
(v. i.) To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive.
(v. t.) To question or hold questionable; to withhold assent to; to hesitate to believe, or to be inclined not to believe; to withhold confidence from; to distrust; as, I have heard the story, but I doubt the truth of it.
(v. t.) To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive of.
(v. t.) To fill with fear; to affright.
(v. i.) A fluctuation of mind arising from defect of knowledge or evidence; uncertainty of judgment or mind; unsettled state of opinion concerning the reality of an event, or the truth of an assertion, etc.; hesitation.
(v. i.) Uncertainty of condition.
(v. i.) Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread.
(v. i.) Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point unsettled; objection.
Typed by Damian
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Hesitate, waver, be doubtful, be in suspense, be undetermined, entertain doubts, be in a state of uncertainty, not know what to think.[2]. [Rare.] Suspect, fancy, apprehend.
v. a. [1]. Question, hesitate to believe, consider questionable, have doubts about.[2]. Distrust, suspect, not confide in.
n. [1]. Indecision, hesitation, hesitancy, irresolution, uncertainty, suspense, misgiving.[2]. Suspicion, distrust, mistrust.
Editor: Matt
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Dubiousness, dubitation, scruple, hesitation, suspense, distrust, suspicion,perplexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, difficulty, indecision
ANT:Certainty, clearness, precision, determination, decision, conviction,satisfaction
SYN:Dubitate, hesitate, vacillate, waver, demur
ANT:Decide, determine, resolve, assent
Typist: Miranda
Definition
n. uncertainty of mind: suspicion: fear: a thing doubted or questioned.—adj. Doubt′able.—n. Doub′ter.—adj. Doubt′ful full of doubt: undetermined: not clear: not secure: suspicious: not confident.—adv. Doubt′fully.—n. Doubt′fulness.—p.adj. Doubt′ing that doubts undecided.—advs. Doubt′ingly; Doubt′less without doubt: certainly; Doubt′lessly.
v.i. to waver in opinion: to be uncertain: to hesitate: to suspect: to believe with fear or hesitation: (Scot.) to think even without the sense of hesitation.—v.t. to hold in doubt: to distrust.—p.adj. Doubt′ed (Spens.) questioned: feared redoubted.
Editor: Nell
Examples
- Traders and other undertakers may, no doubt with great propriety, carry on a very considerable part of their projects with borrowed money. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt, said Estella, and of course if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- If you doubt that in the least degree, I will never write it. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- As I perceive that your boots, although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough to justify the hansom. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He is no doubt born with an appetite--probably, when he is in a safer state of health, he has an excellent appetite. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Yes, without doubt. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- All this involved, no doubt, sufficient active exercise of pen and ink to make her daughter's part in the proceedings anything but a holiday. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- She drew in her breath sharply as one whose doubts are resolved. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- He is leaving the Church on account of his opinions--his doubts would do him no good at Oxford. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- To-morrow will see all my doubts in a fair way of being cleared up, sooner or later. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- And she surveyed her position, and its hopes, doubts, and chances. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- But Dobbin was of too simple and generous a nature to have any doubts about Amelia. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Abu Bekr was a man without doubts, his beliefs cut down to acts cleanly as a sharp knife cuts. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Tis an old remedy, said Clym distrustfully, and I have doubts about it. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I had never doubted that the Moonstone had found its way into Mr. Luker's hands, at the time Mr. Murthwaite alluded to. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I think, if they bring me out to be hanged to-morrow, as is much to be doubted they may, I will try its weight upon the finisher of the sentence. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Warlike Tribes have been put to flight so easily by civilised armies in modern times that such tribes have been doubted as possessing their boasted or even natural courage. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Had you doubted it, then? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- I doubted if her mind was in a fit condition to take in what I had said to her. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- But they were strangers to our house; and Penelope doubted, in Rosanna's present state, whether strangers might not do her more harm than good. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I only doubted whether or not I should endeavour to see Idris again, before I departed. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Seeing me still standing at the place where we had parted, he stopped, as if doubting whether I might not wish to speak to him again. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- You must not deceive yourself into doubting the reality of my words--my fixed intention and resolve. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- By these and other experiments this doubting disciple confi rmed Hutton's theory, and became one of the great founders of experim ental geology. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- I got through some jargon to the effect that I took the liberty of doubting that. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Marianne was quite angry with her for doubting it. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- The mother looked up at him with sudden, dark interrogation, as if doubting his sincerity. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Elinor tried to make a civil answer, though doubting her own success. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
Checked by Antoine