doubt
part of speech
noun (a doubt, doubts); verb (doubt, doubts, doubted, doubting)
meaning for a pupil
1) (noun) A feeling of not being sure if something is true or will happen. tree →
2) (verb) To feel unsure that something is true, or to think it is probably not true. tree →
3) (verb) Not to trust or believe someone. tree →
4) "No doubt" means probably or certainly. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories, a character in doubt hesitates, and someone who doubts a hero is often proved wrong. In science and maths, doubt is healthy: if you doubt an answer, check it again; scientists test ideas they doubt. In everyday life, «no doubt» means surely. Phrases: «no doubt», «without a doubt», «in doubt», «have doubts», «I doubt it», «benefit of the doubt».
examples
- I doubt it will snow today — it's too warm. tree →
- Without a doubt, she's the best singer in the class. tree →
- If you are in doubt, ask the teacher. tree →
- He had doubts about climbing so high. tree →
- Nobody doubted his story. tree →
- No doubt you're hungry after that long walk. tree →
- When in doubt, check your answer with the inverse operation. tree →
- I never doubted that you could do it. tree →
- No doubt he will soon come. tree →
note
Silent b: «doubt» is said «dowt». Adjective: «doubtful». «I doubt it» means «I think not». «No doubt» means «certainly», but «doubtless» can sound a bit unsure in speech.
In the corpora
- A safe rule for doubtful food is: when in doubt, throw it out.
- Not every changing story is a lie; people can be unsure, and their story shrinks when they are doubted.
- Some lies try to make you doubt yourself.
- Lies that make you doubt your own memory are especially unfair; writing things down helps.
- Many small lies can use up people's trust, so that even your true words are doubted.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «doubt» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.