think

/ˈθæŋk//ˈθɪŋk/

think verb: to ponder, to go over in one's mind. Also the ellipsis of think so.

Verb (1)

think (third-person singular simple present thinks, present participle thinking, simple past and past participle thought)

(transitive) To ponder, to go over in one's mind.
- Idly, the detective thought what his next move should be.
- Had we but world enough and time / This coyness, lady, were no crime. / We would sit down, and think which way / To walk, and pass our long love's day.c. 1650, Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress
Synonyms:

ponder
(transitive) To have (some statement) in one's mind; to say to oneself mentally.
- "I should phone my mother," I thought.
- So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
(intransitive) To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem.
- I thought for three hours about the problem and still couldn’t find the solution.
- Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
(intransitive) To conceive of something or someone
- I tend to think of her as rather ugly.
- Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching...2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
(transitive) To be of the opinion (that); to consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as.
- I don't think it worth complaining about the leak in the roof, is it?
- I hope you won’t think me stupid if I ask you what that means.
Synonyms:

have opinion, deem
(transitive) To guess; to reckon; to believe while admittedly being uncertain.
- We should/would have thought she could've washed her hands before, at least.
To plan; to be considering; to be of a mind (to do something).
- The cupbearer shrugged up his shoulders in displeasure. "I thought to have lodged him in the solere chamber," said he[…]1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co....
- “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
To presume; to venture.
- Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 3:9

Noun

think (usually uncountable, plural thinks)

(UK, usually) An act of thinking; consideration (of something).
- I'll have a think about that and let you know.

Verb (2)

think (third-person singular simple present thinks, present participle thinking, simple past and past participle thought)

(obsolete except in methinks) To seem, to appear.
- And whanne syr launcelot sawe he myghte not ryde vp in to the montayne
  he there alyghte vnder an Appel tree
  […]
  And then he leid hym doune to slepe
  And thenne hym thoughte there came an old man afore hym
  the whiche sayd A launcelot of euylle feythe and poure byleue
  wherfor is thy wille tourned soo...1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter V, in Le Morte Darthur, book XV

Also used as

think is also the ellipsis of think so.

think meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

think in Hindi

be of the opinion that — see also believe, opine: सोचना socnā, सोच soc, विचार vicār
to ponder, to go over in one's head: विचारना vicārnā, सोचना socnā, विचार करना vicār karnā
communicate to oneself in one’s mind: सोचना socnā
to conceive of something or someone: विचारना vicārnā

think in Tamil

to ponder, to go over in one's head: யோசி yōci, நினை niṉai, எண்ணு eṇṇu
an act of thinking: எண்ணுதல் eṇṇutal

think in Urdu

be of the opinion that — see also believe, opine: سوچْنا socnā
to ponder, to go over in one's head: سوچْنا socnā
communicate to oneself in one’s mind: سوچْنا socnā

think in Bengali

to ponder, to go over in one's head: ভাবা bhābā, চিন্তা করা Chinta kora
communicate to oneself in one’s mind: ভাবা bhaba

More languagesFewer languages

think in Telugu: ఆలోచించు ālōciñcu, భావన bhāvana, ఊహించు ūhiñcu
think in Punjabi: ਸੋਚਣਾ
think in Odia: ବିଚାର କରିବା bicāra karibā, ଚିନ୍ତା କରିବା cintā karibā
think in Sanskrit: मन्यते manyate
think in Sinhala: හිතනවා hitanawā
think in Assamese: ভবা bhoba
think in Pashto: اندېښل andex̌ǝ́l, فکرکول fekərkawᶕl
think in Tagalog: mag-isip, isipin
think in Arabic: ظَنَّ ẓanna, ظَنّ ẓann, حَسَّب ḥassab, فَكَّرَ fakkara
think in Malay: fikir
think in Indonesian: fikir, pikir
think in Persian: گُمان کَرْدَن gomân kardan, فِکْر کَرْدَن fekr kardan, اَنْدیشیدَن andišidan, با خود اَنْدیشیدَن bâ xod andišidan
think in Thai: คิด kít, มอง mɔɔng, นึก nʉ́k, ถือ tʉ̌ʉ
think in Vietnamese: nghĩ, suy nghĩ, thấy
think in Myanmar: ထင် htang, တွေး twe:, စဉ်းစား cany:ca:

Examples of think in a sentence

I think she is pretty, contrary to most people.
Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers.2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
My brother he is in Elizium, / Perchance he is not drown'd: What thinke you, ſaylors?.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...

All 40 example sentences with think

Synonyms of think

ponder
have opinion
deem

Forms of think

Verb
third-person singular present	thinks
present participle	thinking
past participle	thought
past	thought
past participle	thunk
second-person singular present (archaic)	thinkest
second-person singular past (archaic)	thoughtest
third-person singular present (archaic)	thinketh
alternative form (obsolete)	thinck
alternative form (obsolete)	thinke
Noun
plural	thinks

Past tense of think: thought

Origin of think

From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from Old English þenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną (“to think”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel, know”). Cognate with Scots think, thynk (“to think”), North Frisian teenk, taanke, tanke, tånke (“to think”), Saterland Frisian toanke (“to think”), West Frisian tinke (“to think”), Dutch denken, dinken (“to think”), Afrikaans dink (“to think”), Low German denken, dinken (“to think”), German denken (“to think”), Danish tænke (“to think”), Swedish tänka (“to think”), Norwegian Bokmål tenke (“to think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tenkja (“to think”), Icelandic þekkja (“to know, recognise, identify, perceive”), Gothic þagkjan (“to think”), Latin tongeō (“know”).

From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken (also thinchen, thünchen), from Old English þyncan (“to seem, appear”), from Proto-Germanic *þunkijaną (“to seem”). Cognate with Dutch dunken (“to seem, appear”), German dünken (“to seem, appear”), Danish tykkes (“to seem”), Swedish tycka (“to seem, think, regard”), Icelandic þykja (“to be regarded, be considered, seem”). More at methinks.

Words formed from think

Phrases with think

54 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with think

35 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about think

What does think mean?: Think means to ponder, to go over in one's mind.
What is think in Hindi?: Think in Hindi is सोचना (socnā), सोच (soc), विचार (vicār). See Think meaning in Hindi.
How do you use think in a sentence?: I think she is pretty, contrary to most people.
What part of speech is think?: Think can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce think?: Think is pronounced /ˈθɪŋk/ (UK).
What is the past tense of think?: The past tense of think is thought.

Words near think in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: think (page history and authors); think (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-think.wav, en-us-think.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-GonFreeaks-think.wav.

Cite this entry: “think.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/think. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.