suppose Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb express a supposition
    say.
    • Let us say that he did not tell the truth
    • Let's say you had a lot of money--what would you do?
  2. verb expect, believe, or suppose
    guess; reckon; imagine; opine; think.
    • I imagine she earned a lot of money with her new novel
    • I thought to find her in a bad state
    • he didn't think to find her in the kitchen
    • I guess she is angry at me for standing her up
  3. verb to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds
    conjecture; theorize; hypothesize; theorise; hypothesise; speculate; hypothecate.
    • Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps
  4. verb take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand
    presuppose.
    • I presuppose that you have done your work
  5. verb require as a necessary antecedent or precondition
    presuppose.
    • This step presupposes two prior ones

WordNet

Sup*pose" transitive verb
Etymology
F. supposer; pref. sub- under + poser to place; -- corresponding in meaning to L. supponere, suppositum, to put under, to substitute, falsify, counterfeit. See Pose.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Supposed ; present participle & verbal noun Supposing
Definitions
  1. To represent to one's self, or state to another, not as true or real, but as if so, and with a view to some consequence or application which the reality would involve or admit of; to imagine or admit to exist, for the sake of argument or illustration; to assume to be true; as, let us suppose the earth to be the center of the system, what would be the result?
    Suppose they take offence without a cause. Shak.
    When we have as great assurance that a thing is, as we could possibly, supposing it were, we ought not to make any doubt of its existence. Tillotson.
  2. To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
    How easy is a bush supposed a bear! Shak.
    Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead. 2 Sam. xiii. 32.
  3. To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature; as, purpose supposes foresight.
    One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected. Female Quixote.
  4. To put by fraud in the place of another. Obs. Syn. -- To imagine; believe; conclude; judge; consider; view; regard; conjecture; assume.
Sup*pose" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make supposition; to think; to be of opinion. Acts ii. 15.
Sup*pose" noun
Definitions
  1. Supposition. Obs. Shak. "A base suppose that he is honest." Dryden.

Webster 1913