Library / English Dictionary

DELIBERATE

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unhurried and with care and dignity

Example:

with all deliberate speed

Synonyms:

careful; deliberate; measured

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

unhurried (relaxed and leisurely; without hurry or haste)

Derivation:

deliberateness (a rate demonstrating an absence of haste or hurry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Carefully thought out in advance

Example:

he made a deliberate decision not to respond negatively

Synonyms:

calculated; deliberate; measured

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

intended (resulting from one's intentions)

Derivation:

deliberateness (the trait of thoughtfulness in action or decision)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Characterized by conscious design or purpose

Example:

a deliberate attempt to provoke a response

Synonyms:

deliberate; intentional; knowing

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

intended (resulting from one's intentions)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Discuss the pros and cons of an issue

Synonyms:

debate; deliberate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

discuss; hash out; talk over (speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion)

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

vex (subject to prolonged examination, discussion, or deliberation)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue deliberate

Sam wants to deliberate with Sue

Derivation:

deliberation (the trait of thoughtfulness in action or decision)

deliberation (careful consideration)

deliberation ((usually plural) discussion of all sides of a question)

deliberative (involved in or characterized by deliberation and discussion and examination)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Think about carefully; weigh

Example:

Turn the proposal over in your mind

Synonyms:

consider; debate; deliberate; moot; turn over

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

discuss; hash out; talk over (speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion)

Verb group:

consider; study (give careful consideration to)

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

see (deliberate or decide)

premeditate (consider, ponder, or plan (an action) beforehand)

debate (argue with one another)

wrestle (engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate)

think twice (consider and reconsider carefully)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Derivation:

deliberation (the trait of thoughtfulness in action or decision)

deliberation (careful consideration)

deliberation ((usually plural) discussion of all sides of a question)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I deliberated a moment; my answer, when it did come, was objectionable: "I must keep in good health, and not die."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The risk for death via unintentional injury (i.e., accidents) was also markedly elevated — 16 times higher for the deliberate self-harm group and 13 times higher for the ideation group than for demographically similar Californians.

(Emergency department study reveals patterns of patients at increased risk for suicide, National Institutes of Health)

A bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs to cause illness or death.

(Biodefense and Bioterrorism, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

A conference between two or more people to consider a particular question; the act of deliberating together; confering with another researcher, physician, or expert about an issue or a case.

(Consultation, NCI Thesaurus)

Deliberate stimulation of a host's immune response via administration of antigens or immunologic adjuvants.

(Active Immunization, NCI Thesaurus)

There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Listen to this: It is satisfactory to know that there can be no difference of opinion upon this case, since Mr. Lestrade, one of the most experienced members of the official force, and Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the well-known consulting expert, have each come to the conclusion that the grotesque series of incidents, which have ended in so tragic a fashion, arise from lunacy rather than from deliberate crime.

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

As we stood, front to front, I saw so plainly, in the stealthy exultation of his face, what I already so plainly knew; I mean that he forced his confidence upon me, expressly to make me miserable, and had set a deliberate trap for me in this very matter; that I couldn't bear it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The deliberate act of omission.

(Exclusion, NCI Thesaurus)

They went some paces off, as if it were to confer together, walking side by side, backward and forward, like persons deliberating upon some affair of weight, but often turning their eyes towards me, as it were to watch that I might not escape.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)