suspect
part of speech
verb (suspect, suspects, suspected, suspecting); noun (a suspect, suspects); adjective (suspect)
meaning for a pupil
1) (verb) To think something is probably true, without being sure (I suspect it will rain). tree →
2) (verb) To think someone may have done something wrong (suspect him of lying). tree →
3) (verb) To doubt or not trust something. tree →
4) (noun) A person the police think may have done a crime. tree →
5) (adjective) Possibly false, dangerous or not to be trusted (a suspect package). tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and detective tales, the suspects and clues. In safety, report a suspect package or a suspected scam to an adult. In science, suspecting a cause before testing it. Phrases: «suspect someone of», «the main suspect», «a suspected case», «I suspect so».
examples
- I suspect the dog ate my sandwich. tree →
- The police questioned three suspects. tree →
- She suspected him of cheating. tree →
- Don't touch a suspect package — tell an adult. tree →
- I suspect you're right. tree →
- He is the main suspect in the robbery. tree →
- A suspected broken arm was checked by the doctor. tree →
- “Do you suspect me of being a spy sent by the ogre?” tree →
note
Stress: verb sus-PECT, noun and adjective SUS-pect. Noun «suspicion», adjective «suspicious». «Suspect someone OF something». A suspect is not guilty until proven; in stories, the obvious suspect is often not the one who did it.
In the corpora
- Some people now suspect any good art might be AI; keeping sketches shows how a picture was made.
- «The end was indeed nearer than even the Rat suspected.» — the writer warns us something is coming.
- At lunch Toad is so puffed up that the others suspect something.
- "Person of interest" is the US official phrase for a suspect.
- Dad: «Three suspects for one cookie.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «suspect» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.