Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - sense

(senses, sensing, sensed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Your senses are the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. She stared at him again, unable to believe the evidence of her senses. ...a keen sense of smell. N-COUNT see also sixth sense 2. If you sense something, you become aware of it or you realize it, although it is not very obvious. She probably sensed that I wasn’t telling her the whole story... He looks about him, sensing danger... Prost had sensed what might happen. VERB: V that, V n, V wh 3. If you have a sense that something is the case, you think that it is the case, although you may not have firm, clear evidence for this belief. Suddenly you got this sense that people were drawing themselves away from each other... There is no sense of urgency on either side. N-SING: N that, N of n see also sense of occasion 4. If you have a sense of guilt or relief, for example, you feel guilty or relieved. When your child is struggling for life, you feel this overwhelming sense of guilt... = feeling N-SING: N of n 5. If you have a sense of something such as duty or justice, you are aware of it and believe it is important. We must keep a sense of proportion about all this... She needs to regain a sense of her own worth. N-SING: N of n 6. Someone who has a sense of timing or style has a natural ability with regard to timing or style. You can also say that someone has a bad sense of timing or style. He has an impeccable sense of timing... Her dress sense is appalling. N-SING: N of n, also n N see also sense of humour 7. Sense is the ability to make good judgments and to behave sensibly. ...when he was younger and had a bit more sense... When that doesn’t work they sometimes have the sense to seek help... N-UNCOUNT see also common sense 8. If you say that there is no sense or little sense in doing something, you mean that it is not a sensible thing to do because nothing useful would be gained by doing it. There’s no sense in pretending this doesn’t happen... = point N-SING: with neg, N in -ing, N -ing 9. A sense of a word or expression is one of its possible meanings. ...a noun which has two senses... Then she remembered that they had no mind in any real sense of that word. = meaning N-COUNT 10. Sense is used in several expressions to indicate how true your statement is. For example, if you say that something is true in a sense, you mean that it is partly true, or true in one way. If you say that something is true in a general sense, you mean that it is true in a general way. In a sense, both were right... In one sense, the fact that few new commercial buildings can be financed does not matter... He’s not the leader in a political sense... Though his background was modest, it was in no sense deprived. PHRASE: PHR with cl 11. If something makes sense, you can understand it. He was sitting there saying, ‘Yes, the figures make sense.’ PHRASE: V inflects 12. When you make sense of something, you succeed in understanding it. This is to help her to come to terms with her early upbringing and make sense of past experiences. PHRASE: V inflects 13. If a course of action makes sense, it seems sensible. It makes sense to look after yourself... The project should be re-appraised to see whether it made sound economic sense... PHRASE: V inflects, oft it PHR to-inf 14. If you say that someone has come to their senses or has been brought to their senses, you mean that they have stopped being foolish and are being sensible again. Eventually the world will come to its senses and get rid of them... PHRASE: V inflects 15. If you say that someone seems to have taken leave of their senses, you mean that they have done or said something very foolish. (OLD-FASHIONED) They looked at me as if I had taken leave of my senses. PHRASE: V inflects 16. If you say that someone talks sense, you mean that what they say is sensible. PHRASE: V inflects 17. If you have a sense that something is true or get a sense that something is true, you think that it is true. (mainly SPOKEN) Do you have the sense that you are loved by the public? PHRASE: V inflects 18. to see sense: see see