Definition of "believe"

believe

/bɪˈliːv/

verb
third-person singular simple present believes, present participle believing, simple past and past participle believed
1. (transitive) To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
  Quotations
  FOꝛaſmuch as many haue taken in hande to ſet fooꝛth in oꝛder a declaration of thoſe things which are most ſurely beleeued among vs […]
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 1:1
  Many persons believe that the so-called "dollar of the daddies," weighing 412½ grains (nine tenths fine), having a ratio to gold of "16 to 1" in value when first coined, was the original dollar of the Constitution.
  1898 September, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly‎, volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601
  [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
  2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892
2. (transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
3. (intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
  Quotations
  [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]
  1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, page 40
4. (transitive) To opine, think, reckon.
  Quotations
  “Some people believe him charismatic,” Van Assen told me. “I am less sensitive to it.”
  2017 February 1, Stephen Buranyi, quoting Marcel van Assen, “The high-tech war on science fraud”, in The Guardian‎
5. (transitive with in)
  1. To ascribe existence to.
  2. To believe that (something) is right or desirable.
    Quotations
    I'm happy to tell you there is very little in this world that I believe in.
    1997, George Carlin, “Preface”, in Brain Droppings‎, New York: Hyperion Books, page xi
    The couple is one of the celebrities who believed in open relationships.
    2017 June 23, “Is spokes model Cindy Margolis married or single after her divorce with Guy Starkman, Know her current affairs”, in Hitberry.com‎
  3. To have confidence in the ability or power of.
    Quotations
    I believe in America. America has made my fortune and I raised my daughter in the American fashion.
    1972 March 14, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, spoken by Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto), Paramount Pictures
    Ambassador Udina: The other species are scared. They've never faced anything like this before and they don't know what to do. They want us to step forward. They believe in humanity because of you.Ambassador Udina: Your ruthless pursuit of Saren and the geth, your defiance of the Council -- that's what humans are capable of! That's how we can defeat the Reapers!Ambassador Udina: The others will follow us, Shepard. They know we're their only hope. We will have a human Council with a human Chairman.
    2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Citadel

Definition of "believe"

believe

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations