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sense
has definitions from the fields of psychology,linguistics
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[ noun ] (psychology) a general conscious awareness
Examples "a sense of security" "a sense of happiness" "a sense of danger" "a sense of self" Used in print (The Christian Science Monitor,...)There is an extraordinary sense of presence in all of these recordings , apparently obtained at_least in part by emphasizing the middle and high_frequencies . (William G. Pollard, Physicist and Christian....)For this does not account_for the integral , elemental power of that which grows with abounding vigor as the play unfolds , nor does it explain the strange numinous sense of presentness which comes over those who watch the play like a spell . (Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)Fortunately , although only a_few years ago they held the student at_arms_length , today the business houses welcome the opportunity to aid the student , not_only from an increased sense of community responsibility but also from the realization that the student of today is the interior_designer of tomorrow - that the student already is `` in the trade '' . (Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)In agriculture , for_example , despite the advances in biology , elaborate rituals tend to persist along with a continued sense of the imminence of some natural disaster . (Joyce O. Hertzler, American Social Institutions;...)At_the_same_time that religion binds the individual helpfully to the supernatural and gives him cosmic peace and a sense of supreme fulfillment , it also has great therapeutic value for him . Related terms |
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[ verb ] perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles
Synonyms Examples "He felt the wind" "She felt an object brushing her arm" "He felt his flesh crawl" "She felt the heat when she got out of the car" Used in print (The Times-Picayune, [New Orleans]...)He senses his mother 's disapproval . (High Fidelity, 11:10...)On the basis of what they give us we can know how the young Caruso sang , appreciate the distinctive qualities of Parsifal under Karl_Muck 's baton , or sense the type of ensemble Toscanini created in his years with the New_York_Philharmonic . (Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)At_the_least , however , one may conclude that Geometric potters sensed a logical order ; their principles of composition stand very close to those which appear in the Homeric epics and the hexameter line . (Clayton C. Barbeau, The Ikon....)Sensing the unseen presence of the other men in the patrol , he felt mutely united to these nine near strangers sharing this pinpoint of being with him . He sensed something precious in the perilous moment , something akin to the knowledge gained on his bicycle trip through the French countryside , a knowledge imprisoned in speechlessness . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (linguistics) the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted
Synonyms Examples "the dictionary gave several senses for the word" "in the best sense charity is really a duty" "the signifier is linked to the signified" Used in print (Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)by analogy , the church also has been regarded_as entirely independent of the `` world '' in the sense of requiring nothing from it in_order to be the church . (Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)Adam and Eve were perfect , not in the sense that they possessed perfection , but in the sense that they were capable of development toward perfection . Adam and Eve were perfect , not in the sense that they possessed perfection , but in the sense that they were capable of development toward perfection . (Howard Nemerov, "Themes and Methods: The Early...)Piepsam is not , certainly , religious in any conventional sense . (Brand Blanshard, "The Emotive Theory," Robert...)The pain of the rabbit was not itself bad ; nothing evil was happening when that pain was being endured ; badness , in the only sense in which it is involved at_all , waited for its appearance till I came and looked and felt . Related terms |
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[ noun ] the faculty through which the external world is apprehended
Synonyms Examples "in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing" Used in print (Chicago Daily Tribune...)Directed by Grigory_Kozintsev in a tempo that is studiously slow , he develops a sense of a high tradition shining brightly and passing gravely through an impious world . (Nathan Rapport, ""I've Been Here before!"...)The body , senses and brain , in_common_with all matter , have their counterpart on each of a countless number of frequencies . The senses in each counterpart bear the impression only of phenomena that share its own frequency , whereas those upon all other frequencies are invisible , inaudible and intactible to them . (William S. Haymond, "Is Distance an Original...)The underlying assumption , of_course , is that only sight and touch enable us , in any precise and fully dependable way , to locate objects in space beyond us , the other senses being decidedly inferior , if_not totally inadequate , in this regard . The supposed tactual sense of spatial location and orientation in the patient and his ability to specify the location of a member , as_well_as the direction and scope of a movement , passively executed ( with one of his members ) , proved to have been , on_the_contrary , very considerably affected '' . Related terms |
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[ noun ] the idea that is intended
Examples "What is the meaning of this proverb?" Used in print (Barry Goldwater, "A Foreign Policy for America"...)I do not mean to suggest that these assumptions are self-evident , in the sense that everyone agrees with them . These conditions are unobtainable - are not even approachable in the qualified sense I have indicated - without the prior defeat of world Communism . (James Bryant Conant, Slums and Suburbs...)They are in this sense skills marketable immediately on graduation from high_school . (Tom F. Driver, "Beckett by the Madeleine,"...)It is not a mess you can make sense of '' . What is the history of criticism but the history of men attempting to make sense of the manifold elements in art that will not allow themselves to be reduced to a single philosophy or a single aesthetic theory ? Related terms idea significance reference connotation undertone tenor reference mean |
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[ noun ] sound practical judgment
Synonyms Examples "I can't see the sense in doing it now" "he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples" "fortunately she had the sense to run away" Used in print (Bell I. Wiley, "Home Letters of Johnny Reb and Billy...)His head cannot contain enough sense to command a regiment , much less a corps . (U.S. Reports. Volume 364. Cases Adjudged in the...)It is not a medieval mental quirk or an attitude `` unnourished by sense '' to believe that husbands and wives should not be subjected to such a risk , or that such a possibility should not be permitted to endanger the confidentiality of the marriage relationship . (A.L. Kroeber, "Semantic Contribution of Lexicostatistic...)There would be no conceivable sense in going_to the opposite extreme of selecting items whose forms are the most unstable . (George Harmon Coxe, Error of Judgement....)He tried to tell himself that maybe Burton had sobered_up enough to get some sense . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (linguistics) what you must know in order to determine the reference of an expression
Synonyms Used in print (Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)In this sense , authorities believe that all estimates of phony device quackery are conservative . (R. P. Jerrard, "Inscribed squares in plane curves"...)In the following paper it is shown that in a certain definite sense , exactly an odd number of squares can be inscribed in every such curve which does not contain an infinite number of inscribed squares . (James Thurber, "The Future, If Any, of Comedy,"...)`` Not in the largest sense of the words '' , I said . |
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[ noun ] (psychology) a natural appreciation or ability
Examples "a keen musical sense" "a good sense of timing" Used in print (Musical America, LXXXI:5...)His sense for rhythmic variety and timing is impeccable . Related terms |
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[ verb ] detect some circumstance or entity automatically
Examples "This robot can sense the presence of people in the room" "particle detectors sense ionization" Related terms |
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[ verb ] become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
Examples "I sense his hostility" Related terms |
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[ verb ] comprehend
Examples "I sensed the real meaning of his letter" Related terms |
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