imply

imply (ɪmˈplaɪ)

—vb , -plies, -plying, -plied
1.	to express or indicate by a hint; suggest: what are you implying by that remark?
2.	to suggest or involve as a necessary consequence
3.	logic to enable (a conclusion) to be inferred
4.	obsolete to entangle or enfold

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

imply

late 14c., "to enfold, enwrap, entangle" (the classical L. sense), from O.Fr. emplier, from L. implicare "involve" (see implicate). Meaning "to involve something unstated as a logical consequence" first recorded 1529. The distinction between imply and infer is in "What

do you imply by that remark?" But, "What am I to infer from that remark?"

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Computing Dictionary

imply definition

implies

Example sentences

But surely its popularity-allowing as how it is as popular as you imply-is easy to explain.

But that would imply a degree of isolation that surely few voters would enjoy.

To snarl or shout would imply that some resistance to her authority exists, and

none does.

Now, this doesn't imply that an eruption occurred, but it might suggest

activity on on the upswing.

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expressive formal hint infer innocent insult

Matching Quote

"To suppose that "I know" is a descriptive phrase, is only one example of the descriptive fallacy, so common in philosophy. Even if some language is now purely descriptive, language was not in origin so, and much of it is still not so. utterance of obvious ritual phrases, in the appropriate circumstances, is not describing the action we are doing, but doing it ("I do"): in other cases it functions, like tone and expression, or again like punctuation and mood, as an intimation that we are employing language in a special way ("I warn," "I ask," "I define"). Such phrases cannot, strictly, be lies, though they can "imply" lies, as "I promise" implies that I fully intend, which may be true."

-John Austin