Conceive

/kənˈsiːv/ · verb

Meaning

(ambitransitive) To have a child; to become pregnant (with)..

Definitions by Sense

1. (ambitransitive) To have a child; to become pregnant (with).
2. (transitive) To develop; to form in the mind; to imagine.
3. (ambitransitive with of, ditransitive) To imagine (as); to have a conception of; to form a representation of.
4. (transitive) To understand (someone).

Example Sentences

Assisted procreation can help those trying to conceive.

She hath also conceived a son in her old age.

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.

At the mouth of the cave we found a single litter with six bearers, all of them mutes, waiting, and with them I was relieved to see our old friend Billali, for whom I had conceived a sort of affection.

There are, moreover, grounds for thinking that the Rosaline of Love’s Labour’s Lost was originally conceived of by Shakespeare as pale with black eyes—...

The car cost $700 initially. The subsequent cost was mounting out of sight, but I had conceived an extraordinary fondness for the bug, and my sother had conceived an extraordinary fondness for me, so she allowed my passion for the car to ransack our savings.

Can you conceive of him as a leader?

We shall, / As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount / Before you, Lepidus.

Synonyms for conceive

Antonyms for conceive

Related Words

Word Forms

• conceives
• conceiving
• conceived
• conceave

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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