thought

¹ American  

[thawt] / θɔt /

noun

1. the product of mental activity; that which one thinks.

   a body of thought.

2. a single act or product of thinking; idea or notion.

   to collect one's thoughts.

3. the act or process of thinking; mental activity.

   Thought as well as action wearies us.

   Synonyms:

   cogitation, reflection, deliberation, rumination, meditation

4. the capacity or faculty of thinking, reasoning, imagining, etc..

   All her thought went into her work.

5. a consideration or reflection.

   Thought of death terrified her.

6. meditation, contemplation, or recollection.

   deep in thought.

7. intention, design, or purpose, especially a half-formed or imperfect intention.

   We had some thought of going.

8. anticipation or expectation.

   I had no thought of seeing you here.

9. consideration, attention, care, or regard.

   She took no thought of her appearance.

10. a judgment, opinion, or belief.

    According to his thought, all violence is evil.

11. the intellectual activity or the ideas, opinions, etc., characteristic of a particular place, class, or time.

    Greek thought.

12. a very small amount; a touch; bit; trifle.

    The steak is a thought underdone.

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thought ² American  

[thawt] / θɔt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of think.

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thought British  

/ θɔːt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of think

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noun

1. the act or process of thinking; deliberation, meditation, or reflection

2. a concept, opinion, or idea

3. philosophical or intellectual ideas typical of a particular time or place

   German thought in the 19th century

4. application of mental attention; consideration

   he gave the matter some thought

5. purpose or intention

   I have no thought of giving up

6. expectation

   no thought of reward

7. a small amount; trifle

   you could be a thought more enthusiastic

8. kindness or regard

   he has no thought for his widowed mother

thought Idioms  

1. see food for thought; lost in thought; on second thought; penny for your thoughts; perish the thought; train of thought. Also see under think.

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Usage

Spelling tips for thought The word thought is hard to spell because it sounds as if it should be spelled [ thawt ]. The combination of letters -ought can be pronounced many different ways (nine to be exact!). How to spell thought: Thinking is hard work. It might make you go "oh! ugh!" (-ough). Add a t to the end and you get thought.

Etymology

Origin of thought

First recorded before 900; Middle English thoght, Old English (ge)thōht; cognate with Dutch gedachte; akin to thank, think ¹

Example Sentences

Bobby thought of all the publicity he had generated ahead of the challenge and feared letting people down.

From BBC

"You don't ever see anything like that happening, so I sent it to my partner, and he thought it was really funny as well," she said.

From BBC

I thought that was just too much and just unnecessarily offensive.

From The Wall Street Journal

It said its thoughts were with everyone affected by the tragedy and that following the attack it had "proactively" contacted Canadian police with information on the suspect.

From BBC

“Yesterday was a learning experience. The 18th was playing a lot longer than I thought today. It’s shocking how soft and how fast these greens are. This is the most pure layout I’ve ever seen.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• anxiety
• assessment
• belief
• concern
• conclusion
• dream
• expectation
• feeling
• hope
• image
• intention
• judgment
• knowledge
• notion
• opinion
• plan
• prospect
• theory
• thinking
• understanding