con ‧ clu ‧ sion S3 W2 AC /kənˈkluːʒ ə n/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ concluding , ↑ conclusive ≠ ↑ inconclusive ; verb : ↑ conclude ; noun : ↑ conclusion ; adverb : ↑ conclusively ≠ ↑ inconclusively ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: Latin conclusio , from concludere ; ⇨ ↑ conclude ]
1 . [countable] something you decide after considering all the information you have ⇨ conclude :
These are the report’s main conclusions.
conclusion (that)
I soon came to the conclusion that she was lying.
It is still too early to reach a conclusion on this point.
There are perhaps two main conclusions to be drawn from the above discussion.
All the evidence pointed to the conclusion that he was guilty.
It’s important not to jump to conclusions.
The police came to the inescapable conclusion that the children had been murdered.
2 . [countable] formal the end or final part of something SYN end
conclusion of
At the conclusion of the meeting, little progress had been made.
3 . in conclusion used in a piece of writing or a speech to show that you are about to finish what you are saying SYN finally :
In conclusion, I would like to say how much I have enjoyed myself today.
4 . [uncountable] the final arrangement of an agreement, a business deal etc
conclusion of
the conclusion of a peace treaty
5 . be a foregone conclusion to be certain to happen, even though it has not yet officially happened:
The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ come to/arrive at/reach a conclusion (=decide something)
I eventually came to the conclusion that I wanted to study law.
▪ draw a conclusion (=decide something from what you learn or see)
We tried not to draw any conclusions too early in the investigation.
▪ jump to/leap to conclusions (=decide something is true without knowing all the facts, especially when you are wrong)
Everyone jumped to the conclusion that we would get married.
▪ lead to/point to a conclusion (=make you decide that something is true)
All the data led to only one conclusion.
▪ support a conclusion (=suggest that something is true)
The evidence supports the conclusion that his death was an accident.
■ adjectives
▪ an obvious conclusion
All her symptoms led to the obvious conclusion – she was pregnant.
▪ the wrong conclusion
Reporters saw the couple together and leapt to the wrong conclusion.
▪ the right/correct conclusion
I am sure that you came to the right conclusion.
▪ the opposite conclusion
A lot of scientific evidence supports the opposite conclusion.
▪ the inescapable/inevitable conclusion (=one that is very obvious, although you may not like it)
The inescapable conclusion was that the country needed a change of leadership.
▪ the logical conclusion (=one that makes sense when you think about it carefully)
The logical conclusion is that short commercials are just as effective as longer ones.
▪ a firm conclusion (=definite decision)
At the end of the day, no firm conclusion had been reached.
▪ a surprising/startling conclusion
After years of research, he reached a startling conclusion.
▪ a hasty conclusion (=one that you reach too quickly, so that you are probably wrong)
Researchers must beware of drawing hasty conclusions.
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THESAURUS
▪ conclusion something you decide after considering all the information you have:
Doctors failed to reach a conclusion on the exact cause of death.
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The report’s main conclusion was that global warming was a serious threat.
▪ findings the information that someone has discovered as a result of their study, work etc:
Surveys conducted in other countries reported similar findings.
▪ result the answers that are provided by a scientific study or test:
Have you had the result of your blood test yet?