Library / English Dictionary

DISCUSS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion

Example:

We discussed our household budget

Synonyms:

discuss; hash out; talk over

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

talk about; talk of (discuss or mention)

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

negociate; negotiate; talk terms (discuss the terms of an arrangement)

negociate (confer with another in order to come to terms or reach an agreement)

powwow (hold a powwow, talk, conference or meeting)

debate; deliberate (discuss the pros and cons of an issue)

consider; debate; deliberate; moot; turn over (think about carefully; weigh)

bandy; kick around (discuss lightly)

chair; lead; moderate (preside over)

advise; counsel; rede (give advice to)

confab; confabulate; confer; consult (have a conference in order to talk something over)

broach; initiate (bring up a topic for discussion)

bandy about (discuss casually)

hammer out; thrash out (discuss vehemently in order to reach a solution or an agreement)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot discuss Sue

Sam wants to discuss with Sue

Derivation:

discussant (a participant in a formal discussion)

discussion (an exchange of views on some topic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To consider or examine in speech or writing

Example:

The class discussed Dante's 'Inferno'

Synonyms:

discourse; discuss; talk about

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

address; cover; deal; handle; plow; treat (act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression)

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

descant (talk at great length about something of one's interest)

talk shop (discuss matters that are related to work)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

discussion (an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic)

Credits

 Context examples: 

We may as well wait, perhaps, till the circumstance occurs before we discuss the discretion of his behaviour thereupon.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

This may have implications for an origin of life in freshwater hot springs on land, rather than the more widely discussed idea that life developed in the ocean and adapted to land later.

(First Life Ever on Land: 3.48 Billion Years Ago, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Researchers note that EBV infection is not the only factor that contributes to the development of the seven autoimmune conditions discussed in the paper.

(Epstein-Barr virus protein can “switch on” risk genes for autoimmune diseases, National Institutes of Health)

When the young ladies next met, they had a far more interesting subject to discuss.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Perhaps, since the matters which we have to discuss will affect you personally in a very intimate fashion, it is as well that we should talk where there can be no eavesdropping.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The subject of reading aloud was farther discussed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Then, when we had eaten our pork and each had a good stiff glass of brandy grog, the three chiefs got together in a corner to discuss our prospects.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I caught scraps of their conversation, from which I was able only too distinctly to infer the main subject discussed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient talk openly about very personal or private matters not usually discussed in public?

(NPI - Talk Openly About Very Personal or Private Matters, NCI Thesaurus)

The old ones and then the young were discussed—their weight, their gameness, their hitting power, and their constitution.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)