sense (noun)

NOUN

a strong feeling or belief

to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things, known as the five senses

a good reason, or a useful purpose

a separate meaning of a word or phrase

/sens/

1. 1

   SINGULAR 

   a strong feeling or belief about someone or something

    

   sense of: 

   Winning an award would give me a great sense of achievement.

   They say they are dealing with the problem, but there seems to be no sense of urgency.

   a sense of optimism/confidence/well-being: 

   A little bit of praise and appreciation can give people a real sense of well-being.

   a sense of foreboding/unease/panic: 

   Beth read Jake’s letter with a mounting sense of panic.

   a sense of identity/belonging/community: 

   It’s a small village with a strong sense of local identity.

    

   Adjectives frequently used with sense

   deep

   great

   keen

   ...

   Explore Collocations ​

    

   ---

   Thoughts, ideas and beliefs

   thought

   idea

   belief

    

   Verbs frequently used with sense as the object

   ▪ convey, create, develop, experience, feel, share
2. 2

   COUNTABLE 

   one of the natural abilities that most people have to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things, known as the five senses

    

   sense of smell/taste/touch etc: 

   Dogs have a sense of smell that is five times more sensitive than that of humans.

    

   1. 2a

      SINGULAR a natural ability or quality that some people have

      You need a good sense of balance to skate well.

      sense of humour (=the ability to laugh at things or say funny things): 

      She’s got a great sense of humour.

      sense of direction (=an ability to know where you are going, even when you are in a place that you do not know): 

      I’m sure he’ll be able to find the house – he has a pretty good sense of direction.

      business sense: 

      Our father was a good designer, but he had no business sense.

       
   2. 2b

      UNCOUNTABLE the ability to behave in an intelligent way and make good decisions

      He should have had the sense to park the car in the shade.

      talk sense (=speak in an intelligent way): 

      At least they’ve got someone who can talk sense on the subject.

       
3. 3

   UNCOUNTABLE 

   a good reason, or a useful purpose

    

   There’s no sense in going ahead until the costs have been agreed.

    

   1. 3a

      senses

       PLURAL a reasonable way of talking and behaving

      bring someone to their senses (=make someone become reasonable): 

      What’s it going to take to bring him to his senses?

      come to your senses (=become reasonable): 

      Portman urged the government to come to its senses and stop nuclear testing.

       
       
4. 4

   COUNTABLE 

   a separate meaning of a word or phrase

    

   The word ‘bank’ has a number of senses.

   We are talking about vocational training in the broadest sense.

    

   1. 4a

      SINGULAR a way of thinking about or understanding something, although there may be other ways

      in a sense: 

      My family’s from this area, so in a sense it’s like coming home.

      in one sense: 

      In one sense, Robertson is a typical politician.

       

   COLLOCATIONS

   Adjectives frequently used with sense

   ▪ accepted, broad, fullest, literal, narrow, strict, truest, wide
5. 5

   in the sense that

   used to state a possible meaning or interpretation while acknowledging that others are possible

   The book was written for insiders in the sense that it is addressed to serious students of the subject.
6. 6

   in no sense/not in any sense

   not at all

   We are in no sense blaming you for what happened, but you still have to cooperate with the police investigation.

   I do not in any sense agree with your suggestion.

   Submitted by:
   Mujahed Jadallah from Palestinian Territory, Occupied on 30/03/2020

 

PHRASES

make sense

make sense of something