FORGET (forgetting, forgot, forgotten)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: forgetting    , forgot    , forgotten   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forget mean? 

• FORGET (verb)
  The verb FORGET has 4 senses:

1. dismiss from the mind; stop remembering

2. be unable to remember

3. forget to do something

4. leave behind unintentionally

  Familiarity information: FORGET used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORGET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they forget    ... he / she / it forgets   
Past simple: forgot   
Past participle: forgotten   
-ing form: forgetting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dismiss from the mind; stop remembering

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

bury; forget

Context example:

I tried to bury these unpleasant memories

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "forget"):

unlearn (try to forget; put out of one's memory or knowledge)

repress; suppress (put out of one's consciousness)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

They won't forget the story

Antonym:

remember (keep in mind for attention or consideration)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be unable to remember

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

blank out; block; draw a blank; forget

Context example:

You are blocking the name of your first wife!

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "forget"):

slip; slip one's mind (pass out of one's memory)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They won't forget the story

Antonym:

remember (recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Forget to do something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

Don't forget to call the chairman of the board to the meeting!

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

drop; leave out; miss; neglect; omit; overleap; overlook; pretermit (leave undone or leave out)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They forget to move

Antonym:

mind (keep in mind)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Leave behind unintentionally

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

forget; leave

Context example:

I left my keys inside the car and locked the doors

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

lose (miss from one's possessions; lose sight of)

Verb group:

leave (go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They forget the money in the closet

 Context examples 

Mercury retrograde is not all bad, which is something we often forget when we hear the words.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Ah, of course, I forgot that.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A little red-skinned wife and a cave of our own were freely offered to each of us if we would but forget our own people and dwell forever upon the plateau.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A stout little retainer came in with chains and led them away, looking very much frightened and evidently forgetting the speech he ought to have made.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Did I forget! shall I ever—can I ever!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Toto did not approve of this new comrade at first, for he could not forget how nearly he had been crushed between the Lion's great jaws.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

But in other points, as well as this, I was growing very lenient to my master: I was forgetting all his faults, for which I had once kept a sharp look-out.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I could never forget those domestic pledges I had left behind me.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"I've already forgotten. Don't let us read any more. The day is too beautiful."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I will not allow it to be more man's nature than woman's to be inconstant and forget those they do love, or have loved.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)