(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
An ~ is a plan, suggestion, or possible course of action.
It’s a good ~ to plan ahead...
I really like the ~ of helping people...
She told me she’d had a brilliant ~.
N-COUNT: oft adj N, N to-inf, N of n/-ing
2.
An ~ is an opinion or belief about what something is like or should be like.
Some of his ~s about democracy are entirely his own.
...the ~ that reading too many books ruins your eyes...
= notion
N-COUNT: usu N about/on/of n, N that
3.
If someone gives you an ~ of something, they give you information about it without being very exact or giving a lot of detail.
This table will give you some ~ of how levels of ability can be measured...
If you cannot remember the exact date give a rough ~ of when it was.
N-SING: N of n/wh
4.
If you have an ~ of something, you know about it to some extent.
No one has any real ~ how much the company will make next year.
N-SING: with supp
5.
If you have an ~ that something is the case, you think that it may be the case, although you are not certain.
I had an ~ that he joined the army later, but I may be wrong.
N-SING: N that vagueness
6.
The ~ of an action or activity is its aim or purpose.
The ~ is to encourage people to get to know their neighbours.
= objective
N-SING: the N
7.
If you have the ~ of doing something, you intend to do it.
He sent for a number of books he admired with the ~ of re-reading them...
= intention
N-COUNT: N of -ing/n
8.
You can use ~ in expressions such as I’ve no ~ or I haven’t the faintest ~ to emphasize that you do not know something.
‘Is she coming by coach?’—‘Well I’ve no ~.’
= notion
N-SING: with brd-neg emphasis
9.
If someone gets the ~, they understand how to do something or they understand what you are telling them. (INFORMAL)
It isn’t too difficult once you get the ~...
PHRASE: V inflects