infer
Other forms: inferred; infers; inferring
When you infer something, you read between the lines. To infer is to make a well informed guess — if you see your mom’s bag on the table, you might infer that she’s home.
When you infer, you listen closely to someone and guess at things they mean but haven't actually said. It’s like guessing, but not making wild guesses. You're making deductions — guesses based on logic. Another kind of inferring is more scientific, like when a scientist has part of a dinosaur fossil and can infer what the rest of the dinosaur looked like. When you see the word infer, think "educated guess."
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conclude by reasoning; in logicsynonyms: deduce
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reason by deduction; establish by deductiontypes:extrapolategain knowledge of (an area not known or experienced) by extrapolatingsurmiseinfer from incomplete evidenceelicitderive by reasontype of:
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guess correctly; solve by guessingsynonyms: guesstypes:telldiscern or comprehendtype of:figure out, lick, puzzle out, solve, work, work outfind the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
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draw from specific cases for more general casessynonyms: extrapolate, generalise, generalize
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believe to be the casesynonyms: understandtype of:believeaccept as true; take to be true
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imply / infer
Vocabulary lists containing infer
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