supposing
Syllables: sup·pos·ingUK/səˈpəʊzɪŋ//səˈpoʊzɪŋ/
supposing is the present participle and gerund of suppose.
Meaning of suppose
Verb
suppose (third-person singular simple present supposes, present participle supposing, simple past and past participle supposed)
- To take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.
- I suppose we all agree that this is the best solution.
- Synonyms:
- assume
- To theorize or hypothesize.
- Suppose that A implies B and B implies C. Then A implies C.
- Synonyms:
- assume
- To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
- How easy is a bush supposed a bear!c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...
- To reckon to be, to account or esteem as.
- [He] keeps you from the honors of a Queene,
Being ſuppoſde his worthleſſe Concubine.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- [He] keeps you from the honors of a Queene,
- To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature.
- Purpose supposes foresight.
- To put by fraud in the place of another; to substitute fraudulently.
- A Water-monster, called the Nickard, does enter by night the chamber, where a woman is brought to bed, and stealeth when they are all sleeping, the new-born child and supposeth another in its place, which child growing up is like a monster and commonly dumb.1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 30
Noun
supposing (plural supposings)
- The act of making a supposition.
- She could have joined most comfortably in all their supposings, and suspicions, and doubts, and prognostications, but the honour of the family was too nearly concerned to allow free reins to her tongue.1837, The Dublin University Magazine
Conjunction
supposing
- if hypothetically (optionally followed by that)
- Let’s go swimming in the lake. - Supposing there are/were 'gators.
- Supposing our daughter was to marry her sweetheart, and supposing they was to have a son, and supposing he was to grow to man’s estate, and supposing he was to come down to draw cider like as we’re doing, and supposing that there mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!2013, Flora Annie Steel, “The Three Sillies”, in English Fairy Tales
Forms of supposing
| plural | supposings |
|---|
Words formed from supposing
Words that rhyme with supposing
Questions about supposing
- What does supposing mean?
- Supposing means the act of making a supposition.
- What is supposing the present participle and gerund of?
- Supposing is the present participle and gerund of suppose.
- What part of speech is supposing?
- Supposing can be a noun or a conjunction.
- How do you pronounce supposing?
- Supposing is pronounced /səˈpoʊzɪŋ/ (US).
- What is the plural of supposing?
- The plural of supposing is supposings.
Words near supposing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: supposing (page history and authors); suppose (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-supposing.ogg.
Cite this entry: “supposing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/supposing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
