IMPLY (implied)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: implied   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does imply mean? 

• IMPLY (verb)
  The verb IMPLY has 5 senses:

1. express or state indirectly

2. suggest as a logically necessary consequence; in logic

3. have as a logical consequence

4. suggest that someone is guilty

5. have as a necessary feature

  Familiarity information: IMPLY used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPLY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they imply    ... he / she / it implies   
Past simple: implied   
Past participle: implied   
-ing form: implying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express or state indirectly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

connote; imply

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

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

implication (a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred)

implicative (tending to suggest or imply)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Suggest as a logically necessary consequence; in logic

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

evince; express; show (give expression to)

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

presuppose; suppose (require as a necessary antecedent or precondition)

intimate; suggest (imply as a possibility)

connote; predicate (involve as a necessary condition of consequence; as in logic)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

implication (a logical relation between propositions p and q of the form 'if p then q'; if p is true then q cannot be false)

implicative (tending to suggest or imply)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have as a logical consequence

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

entail; imply; mean

Context example:

The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers

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

necessitate (cause to be a concomitant)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

implication (something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied))

implicative (tending to suggest or imply)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Suggest that someone is guilty

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

imply; incriminate; inculpate

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

evoke; paint a picture; suggest (call to mind)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

implication (an accusation that brings into intimate and usually incriminating connection)

implication (a relation implicated by virtue of involvement or close connection (especially an incriminating involvement))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have as a necessary feature

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

imply; involve

Context example:

This decision involves many changes

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

feature; have (have as a feature)

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

carry (be necessarily associated with or result in or involve)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

implication (something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied))

 Context examples 

The presence of warm dust implies that it formed very recently, perhaps in spurts, as chemically enriched material from the two stellar winds collides at different points, mixes, flows away, and cools.

(Hubble Observes One-of-a-Kind Star Nicknamed 'Nasty', NASA)

The presence of somatic hypermutations of IGH genes occurs in approximately 50% of CLL/SLL cases and implies a postgerminal center, memory origin.

(Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma with Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Variable-Region Gene Somatic Hypermutation, NCI Thesaurus)

The possession of a god implies service.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This implies that the tumour will be accumulating more and more potentially damaging mutations over time, making it less and less fit to its environment.

(The curious tale of the cancer ‘parasite’ that sailed the seas, University of Cambridge)

Besides, school would be a complete change: it implied a long journey, an entire separation from Gateshead, an entrance into a new life.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

As the name implies, air acts as one of the battery electrodes, while simple nickel or iron electrodes can serve as the other.

(New, high-energy rechargeable batteries, NSF)

She could not contemplate the change as implying less.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Implies there is proliferation of both epithelial and stromal components; whether cytologic atypia is present in epithelium, stroma, or both should be described.

(Combined Epithelial / Stromal Atypical Hyperplasia of the Mouse Prostate Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

These findings imply that the first peoples were highly skilled at moving rapidly across an utterly unfamiliar and empty landscape.

(Ancient DNA analysis unlocks secrets of Ice Age tribes in the Americas, University of Cambridge)

“Jane Murdstone,” said her brother, “be silent! How dare you to insinuate that you don't know my character better than your words imply?”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)