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RELATED WORDS

devise, contrive, invent, hatch, create, frame, imagine, spin

Nearby words

dread, dreadful, dreadfully, dreadlocks, dreadnought, dream, dream act, dream analysis, dream book, dream come true, a, dream merchant

Origin of dream

1200–50; Middle English dreem, Old English drēam joy, mirth, gladness, cognate with Old Saxon drōm mirth, dream, Old Norse draumr, Old High German troum dream; modern sense first recorded in ME but presumably also current in Old English, as in Old Saxon

Related forms

Synonym study

1. Dream, nightmare, and vision refer to the kinds of mental images that form during sleep. Dream is the general term for any such succession of images. A nightmare is a dream that brings fear or anxiety: frightened by a nightmare. Vision refers to a series of images of unusual vividness, clarity, order, and significance, sometimes seen in a dream.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for dream up (1 of 2)

dream up

verb

(tr, adverb) to invent by ingenuity and imaginationto dream up an excuse for leaving

British Dictionary definitions for dream up (2 of 2)

dream

/ (driːm) /

noun

verb dreams, dreaming, dreamed or dreamt (drɛmt)

adjective

too good to be true; idealdream kitchen
See also dream up

Derived Forms

Word Origin for dream

Old English drēam song; related to Old High German troum, Old Norse draumr, Greek thrulos noise
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for dream up

dream

[ drēm ]

n.

A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with dream up (1 of 2)

dream up

Invent, concoct, as in Count on her to dream up some explanation for her absence. This expression replaced the somewhat earlier dream out. [c. 1940]

Idioms and Phrases with dream up (2 of 2)

dream

In addition to the idioms beginning with dream

  • dream come true, a
  • dream up

also see:

  • pipe dream
  • sweet dreams
  • wouldn't dream of
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.