suspect
Use suspect in a sentence
pɛkt; verb (used with object)
1.
to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof: to suspect a person of murder.
2.
to doubt or mistrust: I suspect his motives.
3.
to believe to be the case or to be likely or probable; surmise: I suspect his knowledge did not amount to much.
4.
to have some hint or foreknowledge of: I think she suspected the surprise.
verb (used without object)
5.
to believe something, especially something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion.
00:10
suspect
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
noun
6.
a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.
adjective
7.
suspected; open to or under suspicion.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English (adj.) < Latin suspectāre, equivalent to su- su- + spectāre, frequentative of specere to look at
1250–1300; Middle English (adj.) < Latin suspectāre, equivalent to su- su- + spectāre, frequentative of specere to look at
Related forms
sus·pect·i·ble, adjective
non·sus·pect, noun, adjective
pre·sus·pect, verb (used with object)
un·sus·pect·ing, adjective
un·sus·pect·ing·ly, adverb
Synonyms
3. guess, conjecture, suppose.
3. guess, conjecture, suppose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To suspect
Collins
World English Dictionary
| suspect | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to believe guilty of a specified offence without proof |
| 2. | (tr) to think false, questionable, etc: she suspected his sincerity |
| 3. | (tr; may take a clause as object) to surmise to be the case; think probable: to suspect fraud |
| 4. | (intr) to have suspicion |
| —n | |
| 5. | a person who is under suspicion |
| —adj | |
| 6. | causing or open to suspicion |
| [C14: from Latin suspicere to mistrust, from | |
| sus'pecter | |
| —n | |
| 'suspectless | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
suspect
mid-14c., from O.Fr. suspect "suspicious," from L. suspectus "suspected, suspicious," pp. of suspicere "look up at, mistrust, suspect," from sub "up to" + specere "to look at" (see scope (1)). The notion is of "look at secretly," hence, "look at distrustfully." The verb is
attested from late 15c.; the noun meaning "a suspected person" is first recorded 1590s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The suspect they were looking for was not there, but three others were arrested for marijuana and cocaine possession.
Astronomers suspect the system was once two stars, which formed billions of years ago.
The differences are so slight that the researchers suspect them to be functionally irrelevant.
Scientists suspect the behavior may benefit the birds by attracting insects or signaling to other owls that the nest is occupied.
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