Library / English Dictionary

BELIEVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Accept as true; take to be true

Example:

She believes in spirits

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

accept (consider or hold as true)

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

infer; understand (believe to be the case)

swallow (believe or accept without questioning or challenge)

buy (accept as true)

believe (follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer)

trust (have confidence or faith in)

believe in (have a firm conviction as to the goodness of something)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

They believe him to write the letter

Antonym:

disbelieve (reject as false; refuse to accept)

Derivation:

belief (any cognitive content held as true)

believable (capable of being believed)

believer (a supporter who accepts something as true)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Credit with veracity

Example:

Should we believe a publication like the National Enquirer?

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

credit (have trust in; trust in the truth or veracity of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

believable (capable of being believed)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer

Example:

When you hear his sermons, you will be able to believe, too

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

believe (accept as true; take to be true)

Domain category:

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

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

misbelieve (hold a false or unorthodox belief)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

believer (a person who has religious faith)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Judge or regard; look upon; judge

Example:

The racist conceives such people to be inferior

Synonyms:

believe; conceive; consider; think

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

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

hold (remain committed to)

rethink (change one's mind)

think (dispose the mind in a certain way)

be known as; esteem; know as; look on; look upon; regard as; repute; take to be; think of (look on as or consider)

feel (have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude)

consider; reckon; regard; see; view (deem to be)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They believe that there was a traffic accident

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be confident about something

Example:

I believe that he will come back from the war

Synonyms:

believe; trust

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They believe that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

belief (a vague idea in which some confidence is placed)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I do not believe Mrs. Long will do any such thing.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Also, I was very proud of that particular piece of work. I had named it "The Last Turn," and I believed it to be one of the best things I had ever done.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I believe he's a good seaman, but he's too free with the crew to be a good officer.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

When she saw who it was, she approached me and said, “Dear sir, you are very kind to visit me; you, I hope, do not believe that I am guilty?”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery.

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

The mechanism was believed to involve a membrane bound ER but attempts to isolate such a protein have not been successful.

(Pelp1 Estrogen Receptor Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A follicle believed to be formed by degeneration of suppressed chief cells.

(Parathyroid Gland Follicle, NCI Thesaurus)

The tendency to believe that there is good in everything and to have positive thoughts about most things that happen.

(Optimism, NCI Dictionary)

These compounds are believed to associated with many cancers, especially with breast cancer.

(Organochlorine Compound, NCI Thesaurus)

No, sir; I believe you mean well by me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)