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   sense

   /sɛns/

   noun

   • 1. a faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus; one of the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch: "the bear has a keen sense of smell which enables it to hunt at dusk" Similar sensory facultyfeelingsensationperceptionsighthearingtouchtastesmellsixth sensedated:sensibility
   • 2. a feeling that something is the case: "she had the sense of being a political outsider" Similar awarenessfeelingsensationconsciousnessperceptionrecognition
   • ▪ a keen intuitive awareness of or sensitivity to the presence or importance of something: "she had a fine sense of comic timing" Similar appreciationawarenessunderstandingcomprehensiondiscernmentacknowledgement
   • 3. a sane and realistic attitude to situations and problems: "he earned respect by the good sense he showed at meetings" Similar wisdomcommon sensegood sensepracticalitysagacitysharpnessdiscernmentperceptionnative witmother witwitlevel-headednessintelligenceclevernessastutenessshrewdnessjudgementsoundness of judgementunderstandingreasonlogicbrainbrainsinformal:gumptionnoushorse sensesavvyloafcommonsmartsOpposite stupiditymindlessness
   • ▪ a reasonable or comprehensible rationale: "I can't see the sense in leaving all the work to you" Similar purposepointreasonaimobjectmotiveuseutilityvalueadvantagebenefit
   • 4. a way in which an expression or a situation can be interpreted; a meaning: "it is not clear which sense of the word ‘characters’ is intended in this passage" Similar meaningdefinitionimportdenotationsignificationsignificancepurportimplicationintentionnuancedriftgistthrusttenorburdenthememessageessencespiritsubstance
   • 5. a property (e.g. direction of motion) distinguishing a pair of objects, quantities, effects, etc. which differ only in that each is the reverse of the other: "the cord does not become straight, but forms a length of helix in the opposite sense"
   • ▪ relating to or denoting a coding sequence of nucleotides, complementary to an antisense sequence.

   verb

   • 1. perceive by a sense or senses: "with the first frost, they could sense a change in the days"
   • ▪ be aware of (something) without being able to define exactly how one knows: "she could sense her father's anger rising"
   • 2. (of a machine or similar device) detect: "an optical fibre senses a current flowing in a conductor"

   Word Origin late Middle English (as a noun in the sense ‘meaning’): from Latin sensus ‘faculty of feeling, thought, meaning’, from sentire ‘feel’. The verb dates from the mid 16th century.

   Scrabble Points: 5

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