I. ˈdau̇t, usu -au̇d.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English douten to fear, doubt, from Old French douter, from Latin dubitare to doubt; akin to Latin dubius doubtful — more at dubious
transitive verb
1. archaic
a. : to be afraid of : fear — used with an infinitive phrase or a clause as object
I doubt I have been beguiled — Sir Walter Scott
b. : to be apprehensive of (something feared or not desired)
fear nought — nay, that I need not say — but doubt not aught from mine array — Sir Walter Scott
2. : to be in doubt about ; specifically : to be uncertain or undecided in opinion of or belief in
begins to doubt all the maxims he has hitherto accepted — Bertrand Russell
3.
a. : to lack confidence in : distrust , suspect
find myself doubting him even when I know that he is honest — H.L.Mencken
b. : to be inclined not to believe or accept : consider unlikely or improbable
I doubt that they would have helped me — George Santayana
I doubt whether the facts bear him out — Adelaide Hahn
I doubt if he ever wrote a single paragraph that was not carefully planned — Deems Taylor
ready to fight anyone who dared to doubt its success — Sherwood Anderson
intransitive verb
1. : to be in doubt ; specifically : to be uncertain or undecided in opinion or belief
its obvious elements are willingness to hold belief in suspense, ability to doubt until evidence is obtained — John Dewey
2. archaic : hesitate , scruple
hath not doubted to assert that you may see a spirit in open daylight — Henry Fielding
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English doute fear, doubt, from Old French, from douter
1.
a. : uncertainty of belief or opinion ; specifically : the subjective state of being uncertain of the truth of a statement or the reality of an event as a result of incomplete knowledge or evidence
like one that prayed in sorrow, under some extremity of doubt , for light that should guide him to the better choice — Thomas De Quincey
b. : a deliberate suspension of judgment or withholding of belief
took his point of departure in something deeper than an abstract intellectual doubt , namely, in a concrete personal despair — D.F.Swenson
— compare cartesianism , skepticism
c. : a systematic weighing of the reasons for holding a belief or opinion
doubt is the beginning and the end of our efforts to know — William Hamilton †1856
2. : the condition of being objectively uncertain : a state of affairs giving rise to uncertainty, hesitation, or suspense
there were four states whose votes were in doubt — Carol L. Thompson
3. : a feeling of uncertainty
had already fallen a prey to those doubts and misgivings which are ever the result of a lack of decision — Theodore Dreiser
4. obsolete : an uncertain or unsettled point or matter : difficulty
and I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations and dissolve doubts — Dan 5:16 (Authorized Version)
5.
a. : a lack of confidence : distrust , suspicion
the doubt everyone felt concerning his past — Sherwood Anderson
their mutual doubts and suspicions … have been enhanced rather than alleviated by the war — Vera M. Dean
b. : an inclination not to believe or accept : question
there can be little doubt that in matters of literary style the sovereign virtue … is clearness — B.N.Cardozo
Synonyms: see uncertainty
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- no doubt