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be·lieve

believe

 
 
pronunciation:
b liv
parts of speech:
transitive verb, intransitive verb
phrases:
believe in
features:
Word Combinations (verb), Word Explorer, Grammatical Patterns
part of speech: transitive verb
inflections: believes, believing, believed
definition 1: to accept as honest or true.
They believe every word their leader says.
synonyms:
buy, credit, trust
antonyms:
disbelieve, discount, doubt
similar words:
accept, accredit, acknowledge, assume, fall for, put stock in, recognize, repute, swallow, take
definition 2: to feel with some confidence; suppose (usu. fol. by a clause serving as object).
She believes that he will succeed even if the others don't.[verb + (that) + clause ] I believe they'll be arriving around noon.[verb + (that) + clause ] I believe you already know the answer to that.[verb + (that) + clause ]
synonyms:
guess, suppose, suspect, think, trust
antonyms:
doubt
similar words:
figure, hold, imagine, know, maintain, opine, presume, surmise
definition 3: to have confidence in the truthfulness or correctness of.
He said he lost his homework, and I believe him.I don't need any more convincing; I believe you!I heard that she won the lottery, but I don't believe it.
similar words:
trust
definition 4: to accept (someone or something) to be truly a certain thing or a certain way.
I trusted him because I believed him to be my friend.[verb + smby/smth + to be + noun/adj ] They believed the money to be counterfeit, so they brought it to the police.[verb + smby/smth + to be + noun/adj ] We believed her gentle and kind at first, but soon we could see that she had a cruel heart.[verb + smby/smth + noun/adj ]
phrase: believe in
 
part of speech: intransitive verb
definition 1: to have a firm conviction or belief (in something being true or real).
They do not require evidence; they simply believe.Do you believe in ghosts?
antonyms:
disbelieve, doubt
definition 2: to have great confidence (in the ability, integrity, justness, or power of a person or thing).
Many followers still believed in the leader even though it was clear to others that he was defeated.If we believe strongly enough in our cause, we are sure to achieve our goal.
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derivations: believable (adj.), believing (adj.), believably (adv.), believer (n.)
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See
  belief, religion