forget
[fer-get]
- to cease or fail to remember; be unable to recall: to forget someone's name.
- to omit or neglect unintentionally: I forgot to shut the window before leaving.
- to leave behind unintentionally; neglect to take: to forget one's keys.
- to omit mentioning; leave unnoticed.
- to fail to think of; take no note of.
- to neglect willfully; disregard or slight.
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- to cease or omit to think of something.
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- forget oneself, to say or do something improper or unbefitting one's rank, position, or character.
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Origin of forget
Usage note
Both forgot and forgotten are used as the past participle of forget : Many have already forgot (or forgotten ) the hard times of the Depression. Only forgotten is used attributively: half-forgotten memories.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for forget
Contemporary Examples
And for those on the Palestinian right who still dream of driving the Jews into the sea, they too can forget it.
But for those on the Israeli right who are hoping that this deferred dream will just fade away, they can forget it.
If we go another year without doing one people will just forget what it was.
Forget those silly “games played with the ball”; they are far “too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind.”
And it often travels so lightly that you can forget you are clothed in its benefits.
Historical Examples
"I should like to forget that you are my nephew," said the old man.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
And you forget that—that devil—suppose she's as good as her threat?
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
They had talked afterward so feverishly, as if to forget their situation.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
The past slid from him so easily, he forgot even to try to forget.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
All your frien's may forget you, but Deff 'll nebber forget you.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
forget
- (when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to fail to recall (someone or something once known); be unable to remember
- (tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to neglect, usually as the result of an unintentional error
- (tr) to leave behind by mistake
- (tr) to disregard intentionally
- (when tr, may take a clause as object) to fail to mention
- forget oneself
- to act in an improper manner
- to be unselfish
- to be deep in thought
- forget it! an exclamation of annoyed or forgiving dismissal of a matter or topic
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Word Origin
Old English forgietan; related to Old Frisian forgeta, Old Saxon fargetan, Old High German firgezzan
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
Word Origin and History for forget
v.
Old English forgietan, from for-, used here with negative force, "away, amiss, opposite" + gietan "to grasp" (see get). To "un-get," hence "to lose" from the mind. A common Germanic construction (cf. Old Saxon fargetan, Old Frisian forjeta, Dutch vergeten, Old High German firgezzan, German vergessen "to forget"). The literal sense would be "to lose (one's) grip on," but that is not recorded in any Germanic language. Related: Forgetting; forgot; forgotten.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with forget
forget
In addition to the idiom beginning with forget
- forget it
- forget oneself
also see:
- forgive and forget
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.