- thought
- noun1 sth that you thinkADJECTIVE▪ comforting, good, happy, pleasant, positive▪
It was a comforting thought that at least her father hadn't suffered.
▪Before going on stage, I breathe deeply and think positive thoughts.
▪ anxious, awful, bad, black, dark, depressing, disturbing, evil, gloomy, horrible, negative, sad, scary, sobering, terrible▪A disturbing thought suddenly struck me.
▪ confused, crazy, strange▪ interesting, intriguing▪ original▪This is hardly an original thought.
▪ first, immediate, initial▪My immediate thought was that he must be joking.
▪ final▪Do you have any final thoughts?
▪ sudden▪ random▪Let me share a few random thoughts with you.
▪ fleeting, passing▪ intrusive▪ suicidal▪patients that are suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts
▪ conscious▪ unspoken▪ waking▪She occupied all his waking thoughts.
▪ inner, innermost, privateVERB + THOUGHT▪ have, think▪I've just had a thought (= an idea).
▪He remained aloof, thinking his own thoughts.
▪ have, hear, know▪Let me have your thoughts on the report.
▪ express, share, write down▪ collect, gather▪She paused to collect her thoughts before speaking.
▪ clear▪He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
▪ read▪She often seems to know what I'm thinking, as though she can read my thoughts.
▪ interrupt▪ brush aside, brush away, push aside, push away, push from your mind, push out of your mind▪An image of his boss came into his mind, but he brushed the thought aside.
▪ dread, not be able to bear, not like, not relish▪She said she couldn't bear the thought of living alone in the house.
▪I don't like the thought of you walking home alone.
THOUGHT + VERB▪ come into sb's head, come into sb's mind, come to sb, cross sb's mind, enter sb's head, enter sb's mind, hit sb, occur to sb, pop into sb's head, pop into sb's mind, strike sb▪The thought crossed my mind that Jim might know the answer.
▪Such a thought never entered my head.
▪ flash through sb's mind, go through sb's mind, pass through sb's mind, race through sb's mind, run through sb's mind▪All kinds of thoughts raced through my mind.
▪ sb's thoughts turn to sth▪My thoughts turned to home.
▪ sb's thoughts drift back to▪Her thoughts drifted back to that night.
PREPOSITION▪ thought about▪He lay there thinking gloomy thoughts about life and death.
▪ thought of▪He shuddered at the thought of going to the dentist.
▪ thought on▪They asked him what his thoughts were on the government's announcement.
PHRASES▪ just a thought▪Would Mark be able to help? It's just a thought.
▪ keep your thoughts to yourself▪He's not the kind of man to keep his thoughts to himself.
▪ the mere thought of sth, the very thought of sth▪The mere thought of lice makes my head itch.
2 process/act of thinkingADJECTIVE▪ careful, proper (esp. BrE), serious▪You should give the offer serious thought.
▪ deep, profound▪She is known for her deep thought and intellectual ways.
▪ little▪He gave little thought to the impact of his actions on his family.
▪ coherent▪He was so upset, he was incapable of coherent thought.
▪ logical, rational▪ analytical, critical▪ abstract▪ creative▪ free, independent, original▪ conscious▪My job is so repetitive, it does not require much conscious thought.
▪ fresh▪We have to give the matter fresh thought.
▪ second▪I accepted the offer without a second thought.
VERB + THOUGHT▪ give sb/sth, spare (sb)▪I've given the matter careful thought.
▪Don't give it another thought (= to tell sb not to worry after they have said they are sorry).
▪Spare a thought for us—we'll be working through the night to finish the report.
▪ direct, turn▪I tried to turn my thoughts to pleasanter things.
▪ provoke▪The article was intended to provoke thought.
▪ be deep in, be lost in▪She was deep in thought and didn't hear me call her.
THOUGHT + VERB▪ go into sth▪Not enough thought has gone into this essay.
THOUGHT + NOUN▪ pattern, process▪I couldn't see what thought processes led him to that conclusion.
▪ experiment▪A simple thought experiment may serve to illustrate my point.
▪ bubble▪I can see the comic thought bubble forming over your head.
PREPOSITION▪ without thought▪They had acted rashly, without thought.
PHRASES▪ after a moment's thought▪After a moment's thought, I accepted his offer.
▪ freedom of thought▪The constitution guarantees freedom of thought and belief.
▪ a line of thought, a mode of thought, a train of thought▪That line of thought can only lead to one conclusion.
▪He hesitated, as though he had lost his train of thought.
▪ with no thought for sth▪He ran into the burning house with no thought for his own life.
3 ideasADJECTIVE▪ modern▪ 19th-century, etc.▪ Eastern, Western▪ intellectual, philosophical, religious, scientific▪ economic, political▪ Christian, feminist, liberal, socialist, etc.THOUGHT + NOUN▪ crime (figurative)▪ police (figurative)▪They accused their opponents of being ‘politically correct thought police’.
PHRASES▪ a school of thought▪They belong to different schools of thought.
▪ a strand of thought▪three different strands of scientific thought
4 kindnessADJECTIVE▪ kind (esp. BrE), nice▪Thank you for the flowers—it was a very kind thought.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
