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speculatemore about speculate

speculate


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Speculate  \Spec"u*late\,  v.  t. 
  To  consider  attentively;  as  to  speculate  the  nature  of  a 
  thing  [R.]  --Sir  W.  Hamilton. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Speculate  \Spec"u*late\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Speculated};  p. 
  pr  &  vb  n.  {Speculating}.]  [L.  speculatus  p.  p.  of 
  speculari  to  spy  out  observe,  fr  specula  a  lookout,  fr 
  specere  to  look  See  {Spy}.] 
  1.  To  consider  by  turning  a  subject  in  the  mind,  and  viewing 
  it  in  its  different  aspects  and  relations;  to  meditate;  to 
  contemplate;  to  theorize;  as  to  speculate  on  questions  in 
  religion;  to  speculate  on  political  events. 
 
  It  is  remarkable  that  persons  who  speculate  the  most 
  boldly  often  conform  with  the  most  pefect  quietude 
  to  the  external  regulations  of  society.  --Hawthorne. 
 
  2.  (Philos.)  To  view  subjects  from  certain  premises  given  or 
  assumed,  and  infer  conclusions  respecting  them  a  priori. 
 
  3.  (Com.)  To  purchase  with  the  expectation  of  a  contingent 
  advance  in  value,  and  a  consequent  sale  at  a  profit;  -- 
  often  in  a  somewhat  depreciative  sense  of  unsound  or 
  hazardous  transactions;  as  to  speculate  in  coffee,  in 
  sugar,  or  in  bank  stock. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  speculate 
  v  1:  to  believe  especially  on  uncertain  or  tentative  grounds: 
  "Scientists  supposed  that  large  dinosaurs  lived  in 
  swamps."  [syn:  {theorize},  {theorise},  {conjecture},  {hypothesize}, 
  {hypothecate},  {suppose}] 
  2:  indulge  in  speculations 
  3:  think  about  at  length  and  in  depth;  "I  mulled  over  the 
  events  of  the  afternoon"  [syn:  {chew  over},  {think  over}, 
  {meditate},  {ponder},  {contemplate},  {muse},  {reflect},  {mull}, 
  {mull  over},  {ruminate}] 
  4:  invest  at  a  risk  [syn:  {job}] 




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