notice

plural notices · alternative abbreviation not.

1. uncountableThe act of observing; perception.

   He took no notice of the changes, and went on as though nothing had happened.

   2 more examples

   Athelstan Arundel walked home[…], foaming and raging. […] He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.

   1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16

   How ready is envy to mingle with the notices which we take of other persons?

   1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC

2. countableA written or printed announcement.

   I always read the death notices in the paper.

   2 more examples

   A series of notices signpost patients to the X-ray department.

   A notice was attached to the building reminding the residents about the five hour water shortage that was happening today.

3. countableA formal notification or warning.

   The sidewalk adjacent to the damaged bridge stonework shall be closed until further notice.

4. uncountableAdvance notification of termination of employment, given by an employer to an employee or vice versa.

   I can't work here any longer. I'm giving notice.

   1 more example

   I gave her her mandatory two weeks' notice and sacked her.

5. countableA published critical review of a play or the like.

   The first-night audience, yes. The first-night reviewers, not exactly. The notices have so far been mixed, only The Financial Times having delivered itself of an unequivocal rave.

   1989, The New York Times Theater Reviews, 1920-, volume 18, page 167

6. uncountablePrior notification.

   I don't mind if you want to change the venue; just give me some notice first, OK?

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   I have been with your father and given him notice that the Duke of Cornwall and Regan his duchess will be here with him this night.

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

7. countabledateduncountableAttention; respectful treatment; civility.

   Synonyms: heed

present singular third person notices · participle present noticing · participle past noticed · past noticed · alternative abbreviation not.

1. archaictransitiveTo remark upon; to mention.First known use 17th c.

   Numberless are the arguments […] that men have used morally and physically, to degrade the sex. I must notice a few.

   1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC

2. transitiveTo become aware of; to observe.First known use 17th c.

   Did you notice the flowers in her yard?

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   So you punched out a window for ventilation. Was that before or after you noticed you were standing in a lake of gasoline?

   1991, Gregory Widen, Backdraft

   Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk.

   2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in A.V. Club, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2013

   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].

   2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2023

3. obsoletetransitiveTo lavish attention upon; to treat (someone) favourably.First known use 17th–19th c.

   She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her into good society; she would form her opinions and her manners.

   1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 3, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC

4. intransitiveTo be noticeable; to show.First known use 20th c.

   The blackness didn't notice so much when she was born; but it's unmistakeable now.

   1954, Barbara Comyns, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead, Dorothy, published 2010, page 9

5. Internetintransitiveslurconspiracy theoriesTo perceive Jewish influence or responsibility.

   Noticing is antiseptic.

   1 more example

   Coordinate term: pattern noticer