n. [ OE. þoght, þouht, AS. þōht, geþōht, fr. þencean to think; akin to D. gedachte thought, MHG. dāht, gedāht, Icel. þōttr, þōtti. See Think. ] 1. The act of thinking; the exercise of the mind in any of its higher forms; reflection; cogitation. [ 1913 Webster ] Thought can not be superadded to matter, so as in any sense to render it true that matter can become cogitative. Dr. T. Dwight. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Meditation; serious consideration. [ 1913 Webster ] Pride, of all others the most dangerous fault, Proceeds from want of sense or want of thought. Roscommon. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. That which is thought; an idea; a mental conception, whether an opinion, judgment, fancy, purpose, or intention. [ 1913 Webster ] Thus Bethel spoke, who always speaks his thought. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ] Why do you keep alone, . . . Using those thoughts which should indeed have died With them they think on? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] Thoughts come crowding in so fast upon me, that my only difficulty is to choose or to reject. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] All their thoughts are against me for evil. Ps. lvi. 5. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Solicitude; anxious care; concern. [ 1913 Webster ] Hawis was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish before his business came to an end. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ] Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Matt. vi. 25. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. A small degree or quantity; a trifle; as, a thought longer; a thought better. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ] If the hair were a thought browner. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Thought, in philosophical usage now somewhat current, denotes the capacity for, or the exercise of, the very highest intellectual functions, especially those usually comprehended under judgment. [ 1913 Webster ] This [ faculty ], to which I gave the name of the “elaborative faculty, ” -- the faculty of relations or comparison, -- constitutes what is properly denominated thought. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ] Syn. -- Idea; conception; imagination; fancy; conceit; notion; supposition; reflection; consideration; meditation; contemplation; cogitation; deliberation. [ 1913 Webster ] |