[syn: doubt, dubiousness, doubtfulness, question]
VERB (2)
1. consider unlikely or have doubts about;
- Example: "I doubt that she will accept his proposal of marriage"
2. lack confidence in or have doubts about;
- Example: "I doubt these reports"
- Example: "I suspect her true motives"
- Example: "she distrusts her stepmother"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Doubt \Doubt\ (dout), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Doubted; p. pr. &
vb. n. Doubting.] [OE. duten, douten, OF. duter, doter,
douter, F. douter, fr. L. dubitare; akin to dubius doubtful.
See Dubious.]
1. To waver in opinion or judgment; to be in uncertainty as
to belief respecting anything; to hesitate in belief; to
be undecided as to the truth of the negative or the
affirmative proposition; to b e undetermined.
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Even in matters divine, concerning some things, we
may lawfully doubt, and suspend our judgment.
--Hooker.
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To try your love and make you doubt of mine.
--Dryden.
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2. To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive. [Obs.]
Syn: To waver; vacillate; fluctuate; hesitate; demur;
scruple; question.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Doubt \Doubt\, v. t.
1. To question or hold questionable; to withhold assent to;
to hesitate to believe, or to be inclined not to believe;
to withhold confidence from; to distrust; as, I have heard
the story, but I doubt the truth of it.
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To admire superior sense, and doubt their own!
--Pope.
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I doubt not that however changed, you keep
So much of what is graceful. --Tennyson.
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To doubt not but.
I do not doubt but I have been to blame. --Dryden.
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We doubt not now
But every rub is smoothed on our way. --Shak.
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Note: That is, we have no doubt to prevent us from believing,
etc. (or notwithstanding all that may be said to the
contrary) -- but having a preventive sense, after verbs
of "doubting" and "denying" that convey a notion of
hindrance. --E. A. Abbott.
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2. To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive of. [Obs.]
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Edmond [was a] good man and doubted God. --R. of
Gloucester.
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I doubt some foul play. --Shak.
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That I of doubted danger had no fear. --Spenser.
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3. To fill with fear; to affright. [Obs.]
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The virtues of the valiant Caratach
More doubt me than all Britain. --Beau. & Fl.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Doubt \Doubt\, n. [OE. dute, doute, F. doute, fr. douter to
doubt. See Doubt, v. i.]
1. A fluctuation of mind arising from defect of knowledge or
evidence; uncertainty of judgment or mind; unsettled state
of opinion concerning the reality of an event, or the
truth of an assertion, etc.; hesitation.
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Doubt is the beginning and the end of our efforts to
know. --Sir W.
Hamilton.
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Doubt, in order to be operative in requiring an
acquittal, is not the want of perfect certainty
(which can never exist in any question of fact) but
a defect of proof preventing a reasonable assurance
of quilt. --Wharton.
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2. Uncertainty of condition.
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Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. --Deut.
xxviii. 66.
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3. Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread. [Obs.]
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I stand in doubt of you. --Gal. iv. 20.
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Nor slack her threatful hand for danger's doubt.
--Spenser.
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4. Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point
unsettled; objection.
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To every doubt your answer is the same. --Blackmore.
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No doubt, undoubtedly; without doubt.
Out of doubt, beyond doubt. [Obs.] --Spenser.
Syn: Uncertainty; hesitation; suspense; indecision;
irresolution; distrust; suspicion; scruple; perplexity;
ambiguity; skepticism.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
doubt
n 1: the state of being unsure of something [syn: doubt,
uncertainty, incertitude, dubiety, doubtfulness,
dubiousness] [ant: certainty]
2: uncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of
something; "the dubiousness of his claim"; "there is no
question about the validity of the enterprise" [syn: doubt,
dubiousness, doubtfulness, question]
v 1: consider unlikely or have doubts about; "I doubt that she
will accept his proposal of marriage"
2: lack confidence in or have doubts about; "I doubt these
reports"; "I suspect her true motives"; "she distrusts her
stepmother"