suppose

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verb sup·pose \sə-ˈpōz, usually after “I ” ˈspōz\

Definition of suppose

supposed

;

supposing

transitive verb
1a : to lay down tentatively as a hypothesis, assumption, or proposal suppose a fire broke out suppose you bring the saladb (1) : to hold as an opinion : believe they supposed they were early (2) : to think probable or in keeping with the facts seems reasonable to suppose that he would profit
2a : conceive, imagineb : to have a suspicion of
3 : presuppose
intransitive verb
: conjecture, opine

See suppose defined for English-language learners

See suppose defined for kids

Examples of suppose in a Sentence

Suppose a fire broke out. How would we escape?
Just suppose for a moment that you agreed with me.
Supposing he refuses to help, what do we do then?
The renovations will cost much more than we originally supposed.

Recent Examples of suppose from the Web

For a baseball team from the heartland, the West Coast is supposed to mean long flights and late nights, the body tested in a time zone far way.

— rustin dodd, kansascity.com, "Salvador Perez's late homer lifts Royals to 9-6 victory over the Mariners", 6 July 2017
The election for treasurer is scheduled for Oct. 14, and candidates are supposed to start qualifying next week.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Julie Stokes quits Louisiana treasurer race after breast cancer diagnosis", 6 July 2017
Introduced in 2015 as a temporary party a few blocks away, Brooklyn Mirage was supposed to open permanently in May 2016.

— ben detrick, New York Times, "Brooklyn Mirage, a Mammoth Club, Finally Opens in East Williamsburg", 5 July 2017
One in eight tattooed Americans regret getting what is supposed to be a permanent form of creative expression, according to a 2012 Harris Interactive survey.

— healthday, chicagotribune.com, "Tattoo remorse? What you need to know about erasing your ink", 3 July 2017
Dwindling revenue from Wisconsin’s gas tax and vehicle registration fees have left a $1 billion hole in the two-year, $76 billion spending plan that Wisconsin was supposed to have in place Friday.

— Fox News, "Christie pic furor is just the beginning: States enter summer of budget pain", 3 July 2017
This morning Brzezinski and Scarborough published their own reaction in The Washington Post, and appeared for a 30-minute segment on their show even though they were supposed to be away on vacation.

— sarah cristobal, EW.com, "Mika Brzezinski on Melania Trump: She's 'got the worst job in the country'", 30 June 2017
Meanwhile, a few degrees east in Kentucky, there's some serious Jesusing going on in the public schools, where that kind of thing is not supposed to happen.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "They're Banging Those Bibles Loudly Across This Great Nation", 29 June 2017
Local governments are supposed to give the state information on home building each year, but many don’t.

— liam dillon, www.latimes.com, "California lawmakers have tried for 50 years to fix the state's housing crisis. Here's why they've failed", 29 June 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of suppose

Middle English, from Anglo-French supposer, from Medieval Latin supponere (perfect indicative supposui), from Latin, to put under, substitute, from sub- + ponere to put — more at position

NEW!

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

SUPPOSE Defined for English Language Learners

suppose

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verb

Definition of suppose for English Language Learners

: to think of (something) as happening or being true in order to imagine what might happen
: to believe (something) to be true
: to believe (something) to be possible

SUPPOSE Defined for Kids

suppose

play

verb sup·pose \sə-ˈpōz\

Definition of suppose for Students

supposed

;

supposing

1 : to think of as true or as a fact for the sake of argument Let's suppose you won.
2 : believe 2, think I suppose that's true.
3 : ¹guess 1 Who do you suppose won?