DREAM (dreamt)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: dreamt   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dream mean? 

• DREAM (noun)
  The noun DREAM has 6 senses:

1. a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep

2. imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake

3. a cherished desire

4. a fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe)

5. a state of mind characterized by abstraction and release from reality

6. someone or something wonderful

  Familiarity information: DREAM used as a noun is common.

• DREAM (verb)
  The verb DREAM has 2 senses:

1. have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy

2. experience while sleeping

  Familiarity information: DREAM used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DREAM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

dream; dreaming

Context example:

I had a dream about you last night

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

imagery; imagination; imaging; mental imagery (the ability to form mental images of things or events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dream"):

nightmare (a terrifying or deeply upsetting dream)

wet dream (an erotic dream (usually at night) accompanied by the (nocturnal) emission of semen)

Holonyms ("dream" is a part of...):

sleeping (the state of being asleep)

Derivation:

dream (experience while sleeping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

dream; dreaming

Context example:

he lives in a dream that has nothing to do with reality

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

imagination; imaginativeness; vision (the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dream"):

air castle; castle in Spain; castle in the air; daydream; daydreaming; oneirism; reverie; revery (absentminded dreaming while awake)

woolgathering (an idle indulgence in fantasy)

Derivation:

dream (have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy)

dreamy (dreamy in mood or nature)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cherished desire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

ambition; aspiration; dream

Context example:

his ambition is to own his own business

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

desire (the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dream"):

American Dream (the widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did)

emulation (ambition to equal or excel)

nationalism (the aspiration for national independence felt by people under foreign domination)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

dream; pipe dream

Context example:

I have this pipe dream about being emperor of the universe

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

fantasy; phantasy (imagination unrestricted by reality)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A state of mind characterized by abstraction and release from reality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he went about his work as if in a dream

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

reverie; revery (an abstracted state of absorption)

Derivation:

dreamy (dreamy in mood or nature)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Someone or something wonderful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

this dessert is a dream

Hypernyms ("dream" is a kind of...):

flawlessness; ne plus ultra; perfection (the state of being without a flaw or defect)

• DREAM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dream    ... he / she / it dreams   
Past simple: dreamed    / dreamt   
Past participle: dreamed    / dreamt   
-ing form: dreaming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

daydream; dream; stargaze; woolgather

Hypernyms (to "dream" is one way to...):

conceive of; envisage; ideate; imagine (form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Also:

dream up (devise or invent)

Derivation:

dream (imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake)

dreamer (a person who escapes into a world of fantasy)

dreamer (someone guided more by ideals than by practical considerations)

dreaming (imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Experience while sleeping

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

He dreamt a strange scene

Hypernyms (to "dream" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

"Dream" entails doing...:

catch some Z's; kip; log Z's; sleep; slumber (be asleep)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

dream (a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep)

dreamer (someone who is dreaming)

dreaming (a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep)

 Context examples 

But a change came over the face of the dream, for a dream I told myself it must be.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It is not unusual to have bad memories or dreams.

(Coping with Disasters, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Insomnia; difficulty falling asleep, broken sleep, unsatisfying sleep and fatigue on waking, dreams, nightmares, night terrors.

(HAMA - Insomnia, NCI Thesaurus)

Oh, what a strange meeting, and how it all makes my head whirl round! I feel like one in a dream. Can it be all possible, or even a part of it?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I awoke, and my yesternight’s thoughts were as a dream.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In this form of psychotherapy, symbols from the patient's verbalizations, dreams, and interactions are interpreted for meaning in their everyday lives.

(Interpretive Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep is a fascinating period when most of our dreams are made.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

In a footage, an Octopus named Heidi changes skin-color, from light to dark, while sleeping upside-down in a tank making scientists believe that they can dream.

(Octopuses can dream, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"Never mind that. What I want to know is how do you find her? Up to expectations? Has she worn well? Life been all a happy dream ever since?"

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Most unwilling was she to awaken from such a dream of felicity to comprehend all the unhappy truths which attended the affair; and for some time she refused to submit to them.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)