sense

[ sens ]

/ sɛns /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sense ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of the faculties, as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch, by which humans and animals perceive stimuli originating from outside or inside the body: My sense of smell tells me that dinner is ready.

these faculties collectively.

their operation or function; sensation.

a feeling or perception produced through the organs of touch, taste, etc., or resulting from a particular condition of some part of the body: to have a sense of cold.

a faculty or function of the mind analogous to sensation: the moral sense.

any special capacity for perception, estimation, appreciation, etc.: a sense of humor.

Usually senses. clear and sound mental faculties; sanity: Have you taken leave of your senses?

a more or less vague perception or impression: a sense of security.

a mental discernment, realization, or recognition; acuteness: a just sense of the worth of a thing.

the recognition of something as incumbent or fitting: a sense of duty.

sound practical intelligence: He has no sense.

something that is sensible or reasonable: Try to talk sense instead of shouting.

the meaning or gist of something: You missed the sense of his statement.

the value or worth of something; merit: There's no sense in worrying about the past.

the meaning of a word or phrase in a specific context, especially as isolated in a dictionary or glossary; the semantic element in a word or group of words.

an opinion or judgment formed or held, especially by an assemblage or body of persons: the sense of a meeting.

Genetics. a DNA sequence that is capable of coding for an amino acid (distinguished from nonsense).

Mathematics. one of two opposite directions in which a vector may point.

verb (used with object), sensed, sens·ing.

to perceive (something) by the senses; become aware of.

to grasp the meaning of; understand.

(of certain mechanical devices) to detect physical phenomena, as light, temperature, radioactivity, etc., mechanically, electrically, or photoelectrically.

Computers. to read (punched holes, tape, data, etc.) mechanically, electrically, or photoelectrically.

Nearby words

sensational, sensationalism, sensationalist, sensationalize, sensationism, sensing, sense and sensibility, sense datum, sense of equilibrium, sense organ, sense perception

Idioms

come to one's senses, to regain one's good judgment or realistic point of view; become reasonable.

in a sense, according to one explanation or view; to a certain extent: In a sense it may have been the only possible solution.

make sense, to be reasonable or comprehensible: His attitude doesn't make sense.

Origin of sense

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English < Latin sēnsus sensation, feeling, understanding, equivalent to sent(īre) to feel + -tus suffix of v. action, with tt > s; (v.) derivative of the noun

SYNONYMS FOR sense

4 Sense, sensation refer to consciousness of stimulus or of a perception as pleasant or unpleasant. A sense is an awareness or recognition of something; the stimulus may be subjective and the entire process may be mental or intellectual: a sense of failure. A sensation is an impression derived from an objective (external) stimulus through any of the sense organs: a sensation of heat. It is also a general, indefinite physical or emotional feeling: a sensation of weariness.

5 awareness, apprehension.

7 rationality.

9 estimation, appreciation.

13 signification, import, denotation, connotation, interpretation. See meaning.

16 feeling, sentiment.

19 discern, appreciate, recognize.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sense ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formshalf-sensed, adjectiveun·sensed, adjectiveun·sens·ing, adjective

Can be confusedcents scents sense

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sensing

Sensing his opportunity, Joey Biden pounced: “I walked up behind him and smashed his head next to the counter.”
Joe Biden: ‘I’ll Kill Your Son’|Olivia Nuzzi|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Crumbs, sensing an opportunity, went public in early 2011, and set about expanding.
The Cupcake Boom’s Sugar High Finally Crashes|Daniel Gross|July 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Essentially, in a package the size of a sugar cube, you can have the sensing components necessary.
Augmented Reality System Goes From Military to Market|Rose Eveleth|May 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Here, more than anywhere else, Sensing Spaces awakens our senses.
The Royal Academy Wants You to Finish This Artwork|Chloë Ashby|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He probably is sensing that this is the fight of his political life.
With New Poll, Mitch McConnell Has Trouble on Two Sides|Sam Youngman|August 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The words are addressed to one who is sensing on the astral, plane.
Clairvoyance and Occult Powers|Swami Panchadasi
And, as always on sensing that inner division, Daoud felt a crushing sadness.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel|Robert Shea
Sensing this drift I opened the hour of reminiscence and told some of my experiences in the jungle of southern Mexico.
Tales of lonely trails|Zane Grey
"Well, tell me about it," his father suggested, sensing his son's isolation.
A Mixture of Genius|Arnold Castle
She looked in awe, sensing something ominous in the witchcraft of the sky, something personal to her and the coming months.
The Woman Gives|Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for sensing

sense

/ (sɛns) /

noun

any of the faculties by which the mind receives information about the external world or about the state of the body. In addition to the five traditional faculties of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, the term includes the means by which bodily position, temperature, pain, balance, etc, are perceived

such faculties collectively; the ability to perceive

a feeling perceived through one of the sensesa sense of warmth

a mental perception or awarenessa sense of happiness

moral discernment; understandinga sense of right and wrong

(sometimes plural) sound practical judgment or intelligencehe is a man without any sense

reason or purposewhat is the sense of going out in the rain?

substance or gist; meaningwhat is the sense of this proverb?

specific meaning; definitionin what sense are you using the word?

an opinion or consensus

maths one of two opposite directions measured on a directed line; the sign as contrasted with the magnitude of a vector

logic linguistics

the import of an expression as contrasted with its referent. Thus the morning star and the evening star have the same reference, Venus, but different senses
the property of an expression by virtue of which its referent is determined
that which one grasps in understanding an expression

make sense to be reasonable or understandable

take leave of one's senses See leave 2 (def. 8)

verb (tr)

to perceive through one or more of the senses

to apprehend or detect without or in advance of the evidence of the senses

to understand

computing

to test or locate the position of (a part of computer hardware)
to read (data)

Word Origin for sense

C14: from Latin sēnsus, from sentīre to feel

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 sensing (1 of 2)

sense

c.1400, "faculty of perception," also "meaning, import, interpretation" (especially of Holy Scripture), from Old French sens "one of the five senses; meaning; wit, understanding" (12c.) and directly from Latin sensus "perception, feeling, undertaking, meaning," from sentire "perceive, feel, know," probably a figurative use of a literally meaning "to find one's way," or "to go mentally," from PIE root *sent- "to go" (cf. Old High German sinnan "to go, travel, strive after, have in mind, perceive," German Sinn "sense, mind," Old English sið "way, journey," Old Irish set, Welsh hynt "way"). Application to any one of the external or outward senses (touch, sight, hearing, etc.) in English first recorded 1520s.

A certain negro tribe has a special word for "see;" but only one general word for "hear," "touch," "smell," and "taste." It matters little through which sense I realize that in the dark I have blundered into a pig-sty. In French "sentir" means to smell, to touch, and to feel, all together. [Erich M. von Hornbostel, "Die Einheit der Sinne" ("The Unity of the Senses"), 1927]

Meaning "that which is wise" is from c.1600. Meaning "capacity for perception and appreciation" is from c.1600 (e.g. Sense of humor, attested by 1783, sense of shame, 1640s).

Word Origin and History for sensing (1 of 2)

sense

"to perceive by the senses," 1590s, from sense (n.). Meaning "be conscious inwardly of (one's state or condition) is from 1680s. Meaning "perceive (a fact or situation) not by direct perception" is from 1872. Related: Sensed; sensing.

Medicine definitions for sensing

sense

[ sĕns ]

n.

Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium.

A perception or feeling that is produced by a stimulus; sensation, as of hunger.

v.

To become aware of; perceive.

Idioms and Phrases with sensing

sense

see come to one's senses; horse sense; in a sense; lull into (a false sense of security); make sense; sixth sense; take leave of (one's senses); talk sense.

sense

noun

verb (used with object), sensed, sens·ing.

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Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of sense

Examples from the Web for sensing

British Dictionary definitions for sensing

sense

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for sense

Word Origin and History for sensing (1 of 2)

sense

Word Origin and History for sensing (1 of 2)

sense

Medicine definitions for sensing

sense

n.

v.

Idioms and Phrases with sensing

sense