con ‧ scious ‧ ness W3 /ˈkɒnʃəsnəs, ˈkɒnʃəsnɪs $ ˈkɑːn-/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ subconscious , ↑ unconscious , ↑ consciousness , ↑ unconsciousness ; adverb : ↑ subconsciously , ↑ consciously ≠ ↑ unconsciously ; adjective : ↑ conscious ≠ ↑ unconscious , ↑ subconscious ]
1 . [uncountable] the condition of being awake and able to understand what is happening around you:
David lost consciousness (=went into a deep sleep) at eight o'clock and died a few hours later.
She could faintly hear voices as she began to regain consciousness (=wake up) .
2 . [uncountable and countable] your mind and your thoughts:
The painful memories eventually faded from her consciousness.
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness.
research into human consciousness
3 . [countable] someone’s ideas, feelings, or opinions about politics, life etc:
The experience helped to change her political consciousness.
4 . [uncountable] when you know that something exists or is true SYN awareness :
This will increase public consciousness of the pollution issue.
⇨ ↑ stream of consciousness
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ lose consciousness (=go into a type of deep sleep that is not normal)
As she fell, she hit her head and lost consciousness for several minutes.
▪ regain/recover consciousness (=wake up)
I wanted to stay at the hospital until he regained consciousness.
▪ return to consciousness
When I returned to consciousness, my head was throbbing with pain.
▪ bring somebody back to consciousness
The doctors were unable to bring her back to consciousness.
▪ drift in and out of consciousness (=be awake and then not awake, and then awake again, etc)
He had a high temperature and was drifting in and out of consciousness.