conceive

To imagine a situation or consider something possible.

• I cannot conceive of such a thing.
• Can you conceive of living without electricity?
• They conceived the future as a time of peace.

How to use it: conceive of something (I cannot conceive of a world without music.); conceive of doing something (She could not conceive of living alone.); conceive something as something (He conceived the city as a single living organism.)

Similar words: imagine, envisage

Common phrases: conceive of something, cannot conceive, conceive something as

To think of a new idea, plan, or design.

• She conceived the idea herself.
• Who first conceived of this project?
• The plan was conceived during a discussion with local residents.

How to use it: conceive something (The architect conceived a design with a central garden.); conceive of something (She conceived of a new way to teach reading.)

Similar words: think up, devise, invent

Common phrases: conceive an idea, conceive a plan, conceive of something

To become pregnant, or cause a baby to begin developing inside its mother.

• They are trying to conceive.
• She conceived her first child at thirty.
• The baby was conceived before they moved abroad.

Similar words: become pregnant

Common phrases: conceive a child, conceive naturally, trying to conceive

To understand what someone means or thinks.

• I cannot conceive your meaning.
• She conceived his intention at once.
• He struggled to conceive what the speaker meant.

Similar words: understand, comprehend

Common phrases: conceive someone’s meaning, conceive someone’s intention