conceive

verb

con·ceive | \ kən-ˈsēv

conceived; conceiving

Definition of conceive

transitive verb

1a : to become pregnant with (young) conceive a child

b : to cause to begin : originate a project conceived by the company's founder

2a : to take into one's mind conceive a prejudice

b : to form a conception of : imagine a badly conceived design cleverly conceived teleplays

3 : to apprehend by reason or imagination : understand unable to conceive his reasons It is easy enough to conceive the notion that your island is a sort of fortress.— Paul Theroux

4 : to have as an opinion I cannot conceive that he acted alone.

intransitive verb

1 : to become pregnant

2 : to have a conception —usually used with of conceives of death as emptinessIt is hard to conceive of all the work that must have been involved in starting off from scratch.— Harold Fromm

Other Words from conceive Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about conceive

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Choose the Right Synonym for conceive

think, conceive, imagine, fancy, realize, envisage, envision mean to form an idea of. think implies the entrance of an idea into one's mind with or without deliberate consideration or reflection. I just thought of a good joke conceive suggests the forming and bringing forth and usually developing of an idea, plan, or design. conceived of a new marketing approach imagine stresses a visualization. imagine you're at the beach fancy suggests an imagining often unrestrained by reality but spurred by desires. fancied himself a super athlete realize stresses a grasping of the significance of what is conceived or imagined. realized the enormity of the task ahead envisage and envision imply a conceiving or imagining that is especially clear or detailed. envisaged a totally computerized operation envisioned a cure for the disease

Examples of conceive in a Sentence

When the writer conceived this role, he had a specific actor in mind to play the part. As conceived by the committee, the bill did not raise taxes. a woman who has been unable to conceive a woman who has been unable to conceive a child

Recent Examples on the Web

Last Whispers — Oratorio for Vanishing Voices, Collapsing Universes and a Falling Tree This immersive film and sound composition conceived and directed by Lena Herzog laments extinct and endangered languages. — latimes.com, "SoCal movie events & revivals, June 9-16: The Locarno Festival in Los Angeles and more," 9 June 2019 To learn that Harris is a man of compulsions and extremes is no surprise to anyone familiar with Trick Dog’s elaborately conceived and inventively themed menus. — Deborah Stoll, SFChronicle.com, "Weekend estate-sale hunting with Trick Dog’s Josh Harris," 5 June 2019 Women who are pregnant or trying to conceive should steer clear. — Maggie O'neill, Health.com, "What Is Vinpocetine? FDA Says This Ingredient in Dietary Supplements Might Increase Your Risk of Having a Miscarriage," 4 June 2019 For those trying to conceive, companies that offer fertility benefits are becoming incredibly enticing. — Minhae Shim Roth, Glamour, "Would You Take a Job Just for the Fertility Insurance?," 24 Apr. 2019 The researchers point to a 2010 World Health Organization study of 1,953 people with penises who had gotten their partners pregnant within a year of trying to conceive. — Kasandra Brabaw, SELF, "Can You Get Pregnant From Precum?," 7 Mar. 2019 In the face of this heartbreak, doctors can often only tell women trying to conceive to wait 10-12 weeks and try again. — Sonja Haller, USA TODAY, "Vitamin D deficiency tied to miscarriages, study says," 31 May 2018 Ideology, conceived of in terms of a basket of policies unified by an overarching view of government, did not seem to be a decisive factor one way or another. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "The strange argument that Democrats actually lost the midterms, debunked," 9 Nov. 2018 Across the bay Théodore Reinach, the politician and scholar, conceived of the inimitable Villa Kerylos, a painstaking reconstruction of an ancient Greek villa built on Delos in the second century BC. — James Mcauley, Town & Country, "The Tragic, Fascinating History of Santo Sospir," 13 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conceive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.