Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To take for granted; suppose.
- intransitive verb To take upon oneself (a duty or obligation).
- intransitive verb To undertake the duties of (an office).
- intransitive verb To take on (an appearance, role, or form, for example); adopt.
- intransitive verb To pretend to have; feign.
- intransitive verb To take over without justification; seize.
- intransitive verb To clothe oneself in; don.
- intransitive verb To take up or receive into heaven.
- intransitive verb To make a supposition; suppose or believe.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To take into relation or association; adopt; take in; admit: as, “Enoch and Elias were assumed up into heaven,” Abp. Abbot. See
assumption , 5. - To take upon one's self; undertake: as, to
assume the responsibility of a proceeding; to assume office; to assume an obligation. - To take or put on one's self; invest one's self with: as, to
assume the garb of a mendicant, or the figure of an animal; to assume a severe aspect; “to assume man's nature,” - To apply to one's self; appropriate.
- To take for granted or without proof; suppose as a fact; postulate: as, to
assume a principle in reasoning. - To take fictitiously; pretend to possess; take in appearance: as, to
assume the garb of humility. - To claim.
- Synonyms To affect, feign, counterfeit.
- To be arrogant; claim more than is due; presume.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To be arrogant or pretentious; to claim more than is due.
- intransitive verb (Law) To undertake, as by a promise.
- transitive verb To take to or upon one's self; to take formally and demonstratively; sometimes, to appropriate or take unjustly.
- transitive verb To take for granted, or without proof; to suppose as a fact; to suppose or take arbitrarily or tentatively.
- transitive verb To pretend to possess; to take in appearance.
- transitive verb To receive or adopt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
authenticate by means ofbelief ; tosurmise ; tosuppose to betrue , especially withoutproof . - verb To
take on aposition ,duty or form. - verb To
adopt anidea orcause .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb occupy or take on
- verb take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
- verb take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person
- verb take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities
- verb make a pretence of
- verb take up someone's soul into heaven
- verb take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
- verb put clothing on one's body
- verb seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word assume.
Examples
-
I can only assume yeah I know *assume* that they have tested enough people and found that assertion passes the smell test even though there is no evidence other than the address on her 1040 for eight yesr.
If Barack Obama were a woman, we wouldn't see her as presidential material. Ann Althouse 2008
-
FYI, my Munger, which I assume is shorthand for War Monger!
Archive 2008-03-01 2008
-
FYI, my Munger, which I assume is shorthand for War Monger!
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
Can we start treating Chuckie Schumer (D-NY) as vulnerable NOW? | RedState 2010
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Illegal Immigration and the Rule of Law 2010
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
Word of advice for 2012 convention planners? - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
The NRSC wastes *no* time on properly greeting Giannoulias. | RedState 2010
-
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.
The NRSC wastes *no* time on properly greeting Giannoulias. | RedState 2010
uselessness commented on the word assume
Doing this, more often than not, makes an ass out of (yo)u and me.
October 13, 2007
reesetee commented on the word assume
Unless you can't spell. Then it makes an ass out of oom.
October 13, 2007
yarb commented on the word assume
Surely assuming makes an ass out of u and ming?
October 13, 2007
uselessness commented on the word assume
But oom is already one, for words like gloom and room and bloom.
October 13, 2007
reesetee commented on the word assume
It's already what? An ass? How can it be an ass if it doesn't have "ass" in it?
Oh God. I'm turning into chained_bear. ;->
October 13, 2007
uselessness commented on the word assume
By ass I mean "tail end of something, in this case, words." Nevermind. Bad joke. *shame*
I do feel sorry for Ming, though, whoever that is.
October 13, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word assume
Oom is already an ass...? And how, pray, does that involve me?
WAIT! Don't answer that.
October 13, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word assume
"How can it be an ass if it doesn't have "ass" in it?"
Nice koan.
October 13, 2007
reesetee commented on the word assume
OH! I get it now. Sorry, uselessness--a little slow on the uptake. :-)
C_b, click the link on your name down there. You'll get it. And if you don't, never mind.
Npydyuan--thanks. It was an accident, though.
October 13, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word assume
Oh. Well. *stares at ceiling, hums*
October 13, 2007
naomatsuura commented on the word assume
I'm assuming you didn't get towed from home.
September 1, 2009