conceive
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /kənˈsiːv/
Verb

conceive (conceives, present participle conceiving; past and past participle conceived)

  1. (transitive) To develop an idea; to form in the mind; to plan; to devise; to originate.
    • 1606, Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare, II-4
      We shall, / As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount / Before you, Lepidus.
    • It was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life.
  2. (transitive) To understand (someone).
    • I conceive you.
    • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation
      You will hardly conceive him to have been bred in the same climate.
  3. (intransitive or transitive) To become pregnant (with).
    Assisted procreation can help those trying to conceive.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Luke 1:36 ↗:
      She hath also conceived a son in her old age.
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