CONCEIVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Conceive

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/kənsˈiv/ Listen

verb

Conceive v. t. (past & past part. conceived; pres. part. conceiving)

1.

To receive into the womb and begin to breed; to begin the formation of the embryo of. "She hath also conceived a son in her old age."

2.

To form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to generate; to originate; as, to conceive a purpose, plan, hope. "It was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life." "Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood."

3.

To apprehend by reason or imagination; to take into the mind; to know; to imagine; to comprehend; to understand. "I conceive you." "O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart Cannot conceive nor name thee!" "You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate."

Synonyms: To apprehend; imagine; suppose; understand; comprehend; believe; think.

Conceive v. i.

1.

To have an embryo or fetus formed in the womb; to breed; to become pregnant. "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son."

2.

To have a conception, idea, or opinion; think; with of. "Conceive of things clearly and distinctly in their own natures."

See images of 'Conceive'

Etymology of 'Conceive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Conceive" Quotes from Famous Books

... be pronounced artistic solecisms. Whether Milton has been guilty of such undramatic interpolations, such lapses from the one end of art, may be left to the individual judgement of each reader to determine; for my own part I cannot conceive that any ...

— Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama - A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration - Stage in England • Walter W. Greg

... summer—sweltering heat in the valleys and everlasting snow and ice on the mountain-tops, with sunlight all night as well as all day—and the description of Norway is complete. No arrangement of these materials is necessary. Conceive them arranged as you will, and no matter how wild your fancy, your conception will be a pretty fair idea of Norway. Toes these elements into some chamber of your brain; shake them well up,—don't be timid about it,—then look at the result, ...

— Chasing the Sun • R.M. Ballantyne

... that the human individuality can exist in a discarnate state, and that it reincarnates into the body of an infant, shortly after birth. But the Statisticalists cannot accept the idea of discarnate consciousness, since they conceive of consciousness purely as a function of the physical brain. So they postulate an unconscious discarnate personality, or, as you put it, one in a somnambulistic state. They have to concede memory to this discarnate ...

— Last Enemy • Henry Beam Piper

... have to limit the electrical conveniences in the home to this amount. True, he cannot use more electricity than his plant will produce at any one time,—but it is only by a stretch of the imagination that one may conceive the necessity of using them all at once. Ironing, baking, and the use of small power are usually limited to daylight hours ...

— Electricity for the farm - Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water - wheel or farm engine • Frederick Irving Anderson

... our scanty thoughts to conceive, are indeed too great for us, but how simply the ...

— Twilight And Dawn • Caroline Pridham

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