SENSE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does sense mean? 

• SENSE (noun)
  The noun SENSE has 5 senses:

1. a general conscious awareness

2. the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted

3. the faculty through which the external world is apprehended

4. sound practical judgment

5. a natural appreciation or ability

  Familiarity information: SENSE used as a noun is common.

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

1. perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles

2. detect some circumstance or entity automatically

3. become aware of not through the senses but instinctively

4. comprehend

  Familiarity information: SENSE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SENSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A general conscious awareness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

a sense of self

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

awareness; cognisance; cognizance; consciousness; knowingness (having knowledge of)

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

sense of direction (an awareness of your orientation in space)

sense of responsibility (an awareness of your obligations)

Derivation:

sense (become aware of not through the senses but instinctively)

sensify (make sensitive or aware)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

sense; signified

Context example:

the signifier is linked to the signified

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

import; meaning; significance; signification (the message that is intended or expressed or signified)

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

acceptation; word meaning; word sense (the accepted meaning of a word)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The faculty through which the external world is apprehended

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

sensation; sense; sensory faculty; sentience; sentiency

Context example:

in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing

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

faculty; mental faculty; module (one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind)

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

modality; sense modality; sensory system (a particular sense)

sensibility; sensitiveness; sensitivity ((physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation)

Derivation:

sense (perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles)

sense (detect some circumstance or entity automatically)

sensify (make sensitive or aware)

sensorial (involving or derived from the senses)

sensuous (taking delight in beauty)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Sound practical judgment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

common sense; good sense; gumption; horse sense; mother wit; sense

Context example:

fortunately she had the good sense to run away

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

discernment; judgement; judgment; sagaciousness; sagacity (the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations)

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

logic (reasoned and reasonable judgment)

nous (common sense)

road sense (good judgment in avoiding trouble or accidents on the road)

Derivation:

sense (comprehend)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A natural appreciation or ability

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

a good sense of timing

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

appreciation; grasp; hold (understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something)

• SENSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sense    ... he / she / it senses   
Past simple: sensed   
Past participle: sensed   
-ing form: sensing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

feel; sense

Context example:

She felt the heat when she got out of the car

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

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

Verb group:

feel (be felt or perceived in a certain way)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

sensation (the faculty through which the external world is apprehended)

sensation (an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation)

sense (the faculty through which the external world is apprehended)

sensible (readily perceived by the senses)

sensible (able to feel or perceive)

sensing (becoming aware of something via the senses)

sensitive (able to feel or perceive)

sensitive (responsive to physical stimuli)

sensor (any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Detect some circumstance or entity automatically

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

particle detectors sense ionization

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

detect; discover; find; notice; observe (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

sense (the faculty through which the external world is apprehended)

sensitive (responsive to physical stimuli)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become aware of not through the senses but instinctively

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

sense; smell; smell out

Context example:

smell out corruption

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

perceive (become conscious of)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

sensitive (being susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others)

sensible (aware intuitively or intellectually of something sensed)

sense (a general conscious awareness)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Comprehend

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

I sensed the real meaning of his letter

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

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

sense (sound practical judgment)

sensitive (being susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others)

 Context examples 

Then it would not be so strong a sense.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

There's sense in the suggestion; not a doubt of it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You've lost your sense of proportion.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I watched them with a sense of soothing, and a sort of calm stole over me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Terminology related to the sense of awareness of self and of the environment.

(CDISC SEND Consciousness State Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

The genome is composed of single-stranded, positive-sense RNA.

(Barmah Forest Virus, NCI Thesaurus)

Having to do with the ear and the sense of hearing.

(Auditory, NCI Dictionary)

Understanding its role in these senses may provide clues to a variety of neurological disorders.

(“Sixth sense” may be more than just a feeling, NIH)

She has the age and sense of a woman, but the outs and not outs are beyond me.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

You can also have problems with your memory, senses, or mood.

(Neurologic Diseases, NIH)