thought — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A representation created in the mind without the use of one's faculties of vision, sound, smell, touch, or taste; an instance of thinking.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

   I hate the thought of going back to work Monday morning.

   More examples (2)

   I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.

   He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.

2. The operation by which mental activity arise or are manipulated; the process of thinking; the agency by which thinking is accomplished.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   thinking

   Examples

   Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.

   The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.

   More examples (1)

   What has been especially striking in recent decades, however, is the rise of new outlooks challenging the very idea of a nucleated (if evasive) inner personal identity. … We don't think our thoughts, they think us; we are but the bearers of discourses, our selves are discursive constructs. Within such frames of analysis, any notion of the ascent of selfhood is but idle teleological myth, a humanist hagiography.

3. A way of thinking (associated with a group, nation, region or idea).

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   school of thought

   Traditional eastern thought differs markedly from that of the west.

4. Anxiety, distress.

   Usage

   • dialectal
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Which of you by taking thought, can adde one cubite vnto his ſtature?

5. The careful consideration of multiple factors; deliberation.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   After much thought, I have decided to stay.

6. A very small amount, distance, etc.; a whit or jot.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   'Bide the night at Heriotside,' says he. 'It's a thought out of your way, but it's a comfortable bit.'

Noun

1. the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about

   Synonyms

   idea

   Broader terms

   contentcognitive contentmental object

   Examples

   it was not a good idea

   the thought never entered my mind

2. the process of using your mind to consider something carefully

   Synonyms

   thinkingthought processcerebrationintellectionmentation

   Broader terms

   higher cognitive process

   Examples

   thinking always made him frown

   she paused for thought

3. the organized beliefs of a period or group or individual

   Broader terms

   belief

   Examples

   19th century thought

   Darwinian thought

4. a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty

   Synonyms

   opinionsentimentpersuasionview

   Broader terms

   belief

   Examples

   my opinion differs from yours

   I am not of your persuasion

   More examples (1)

   what are your thoughts on Haiti?