sense

/sɛns/

/sɛns/

Other forms: senses; sensed; sensing

When you sense something, you know it intuitively, like when you can tell your mother is angry not by her words but by the tone of her voice.

Sense has many shades of meaning, all involving understanding or becoming aware of something. You can use sense to describe something perceived with your senses, like when you sense your dog is near because of the smell. Sense also refers to the unconscious process of figuring something out, like when you sense that someone is cheating at cards. If you have common sense you don't do foolish things. The sense of a word is how it's used.

Definitions of sense

1. noun

   the faculty through which the external world is apprehended
   “in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing”

   synonyms: sensation, sensory faculty, sentience, sentiency

   types:

   modality, sense modality, sensory system

   a particular sense

   sensibility, sensitiveness, sensitivity

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

   acuteness

   a sensitivity that is keen and highly developed

   hypersensitivity

   extreme sensitivity

   reactivity, responsiveness

   responsive to stimulation

   exteroception

   sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body

   interoception

   sensitivity to stimuli originating inside of the body

   photosensitivity, radiosensitivity

   sensitivity to the action of radiant energy

   sight, vision, visual modality, visual sense

   the ability to see; the visual faculty

   somatosense

   any of the sensory systems that mediate sensations of pressure and tickle and warmth and cold and vibration and limb position and limb movement and pain

   audition, auditory modality, auditory sense, hearing, sense of hearing

   the ability to hear; the auditory faculty

   gustation, gustatory modality, sense of taste, taste

   the faculty of distinguishing sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties in the mouth

   olfaction, olfactory modality, sense of smell, smell

   the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents

   type of:

   faculty, mental faculty, module

   one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind
2. noun

   a general conscious awareness
   “a sense of security”

   “a sense of happiness”

   “a sense of danger”

   “a sense of self”

   types:

   sense of direction

   an awareness of your orientation in space

   sense of responsibility

   an awareness of your obligations

   type of:

   awareness, cognisance, cognizance, consciousness, knowingness

   the state of having knowledge of something
3. noun

   a natural appreciation or ability
   “a keen musical sense”

   “a good sense of timing”

   type of:

   appreciation, grasp, hold

   understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something
4. noun

   the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted
   “the dictionary gave several senses for the word”

   “in the best sense charity is really a duty”

   synonyms: signified

   types:

   acceptation, word meaning, word sense

   the accepted meaning of a word

   type of:

   import, meaning, significance, signification

   the message that is intended or expressed or signified
5. noun

   sound practical judgment
   “he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples”

   synonyms: common sense, good sense, gumption, horse sense, mother wit

   types:

   logic

   reasoned and reasonable judgment

   nous

   common sense

   road sense

   good judgment in avoiding trouble or accidents on the road

   type of:

   discernment, judgement, judgment, sagaciousness, sagacity

   the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations
6. verb

   perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles
   synonyms: feel

   feel

   be felt or perceived in a certain way

   type of:

   comprehend, perceive

   become aware of through the senses
7. verb

   become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
   “I sense his hostility”

   synonyms: smell, smell out

   type of:

   perceive

   become conscious of
8. verb

   detect some circumstance or entity automatically
   “This robot can sense the presence of people in the room”

   “particle detectors sense ionization”

   type of:

   detect, discover, find, notice, observe

   discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
9. verb

   comprehend
   “I sensed the real meaning of his letter”

   type of:

   understand

   know and comprehend the nature or meaning of