sense

²sense

verb \ˈsen(t)s\

sensedsens·ing

Definition of SENSE

transitive verb

1

a : to perceive by the senses (see ¹sense) b : to be or become conscious of <sense danger>

2

: grasp, comprehend

3

: to detect automatically especially in response to a physical stimulus (as light or movement)

Examples of SENSE

1. She immediately sensed my dislike.
2. A motion detector can sense movement.
3. The latest feature on air conditioners is a big new plug to help prevent fires. The plug shuts down power when it senses that the air conditioner cord is damaged. —Consumer Reports, July 2005
4. With very little provocation, magic might have been flying back and forth in an unpleasant and damaging manner. Sensing the danger, Kate stepped between them and raised her hands. “Let us have no more of this. There is a confusion to be cleared up, and I cannot do that in the middle of a brannigan,” she said. —John Morressy, Fantasy & Science Fiction, October/November 2004
5. In Pecnik, he had instantly sensed a kindred spirit. As a boy Pecnik had strapped homemade parachutes to hamsters and tossed them (without harm) from his sixth-story bedroom window; by the time he joined the Croatian national team he was making his own jumpsuits. —William Speed Weed, Popular Science, July 2003

Origin of SENSE

(see ¹sense)

First Known Use: circa 1531

Related to SENSE

Synonyms: perceive, scent, see, feel, smell, taste

Antonyms: miss

Related Words: behold, descry, discern, distinguish, espy, eye, look (at), note, notice, observe, perceive, regard, remark, sight, spy, view, witness; ascertain, catch on (to), discover, find out, hear, learn, realize; anticipate, divine, expect, foreknow, foresee; assume, conjecture, guess, presume, speculate, suppose, surmise, suspect

Near Antonyms: misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret, misperceive, misread, mistake, misunderstand

see all synonyms and antonyms

[+]more[-]hide

Rhymes with SENSE

fence, tense, whence