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implicature

 - 2 dictionary results

im⋅pli⋅ca⋅ture

[im-pli-kuh-cher]
–noun Philosophy, Linguistics.
potential inference that is not logical entailment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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im·plic·a·ture   (ĭm-plĭk'ə-chər)   
n.  
  1. The aspect of meaning that a speaker conveys, implies, or suggests without directly expressing. Although the utterance "Can you pass the salt?" is literally a request for information about one's ability to pass salt, the understood implicature is a request for salt.

  2. The process by which such a meaning is conveyed, implied, or suggested. In saying "Some dogs are mammals," the speaker conveys by implicature that not all dogs are mammals.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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