Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To arouse suspicion or apprehension in.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To give or grant amiss.
- To give doubt or apprehension to; make apprehensive; cause to hesitate: used of the mind, heart, conscience, etc., with a pronoun for object, or with the object unexpressed.
- To give way to doubt; be apprehensive; hesitate.
- To give way; break down.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To give or grant amiss.
- transitive verb Specifically: To give doubt and apprehension to, instead of confidence and courage; to impart fear to; to make irresolute; -- usually said of the mind or heart, and followed by the objective personal pronoun.
- transitive verb obsolete To suspect; to dread.
- intransitive verb To give out doubt and apprehension; to be fearful or irresolute.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, archaic to
give fear ordoubt to
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb suggest fear or doubt
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Dreadfully did my heart then misgive me: I was ready to faint.
Clarissa Harlowe 2006
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My heart began then to misgive me a little, and I was very much fatigued; for I had no sleep for several nights before, to signify; and at last I said, Pray Mr. Robert, there is a town before us, what do you call it? —
Pamela 2006
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So that when I heard his heavy footstep advancing along the passage my heart did misgive me, and I felt that I was trembling.
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As my time drew nearer, and there got to be talk of my having a new coat for the ceremony, my mind began to misgive me.
The Moonstone 2003
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That it was of such importance he should go and return ere the rainy season commenced, he could not even afford a day, and that he knew, however cheerful I might talk about the matter, my heart would misgive me, when the time came for him to leave, I might not probably grant him permission to go, when it was of the most vital importance he should.
Yr Ynys Unyg The Lonely Island Julia de Winton
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"Lady Maude advised me in it, and I cannot say I repent it now, though my heart does misgive ever and again," he replied.
Heiress of Haddon William E. Doubleday
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"My mind doth misgive me that you are right," said Philip.
The Knight of the Golden Melice A Historical Romance John Turvill Adams
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The meaning of your argument I take to be this: that by the unaccountable success of the enterprize and the tame submission of the people in general, if the scheme misgive all Scotland becomes involved in the guilt, and may expect the outmost severitys this
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume II. Mrs. Thomson
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I was not prepared for quite so much dispatch, and felt my heart misgive me, as if it were hovering between heaven and earth; but
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan James Morier
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He used to interdooce 'em smooth ez ile athout sayin 'nothin' in pertickler an 'I misdoubt he didn't set so much by the sec'nd Ceres as wut he done by the Fust, fact, he let on onct thet his mine misgive him of a sort of fallin' off in spots.
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