suggest

present singular third person suggests · participle present suggesting · participle past suggested · past suggested

1. transitiveTo imply but stop short of explicitly stating (something).

   Are you suggesting that I killed my wife?

   Synonyms: point, allude, hint, imply, insinuate

2. transitiveTo cause one to suppose (something); to bring to one's mind the idea (of something).

   The name "hamburger" suggests that hamburgers originated from Hamburg.

   3 more examples

   , Book II, Chapter III Some ideas […] are suggested to the mind by all the ways of sensation and reflection.

   In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.

   2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club

   The [British Heart Foundation's] data […] suggests there has been little improvement in eating, drinking and exercise habits in spite of the concern about obesity and the launch of the government's child measurement programme, which warns parents if their children are overweight. About a third of under-16s across the UK are either overweight or obese.

   2013 August 16, Sarah Boseley, “Children shun vegetables and fruit”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 15

   Synonyms: evoke

3. transitiveTo explicitly mention (something) as a possibility for consideration, often to recommend it.

   This meeting venue was suggested to us by our boss.

   4 more examples

   He suggests that we celebrate with dinner at Bellissimo. He suggests our celebrating with dinner at Bellissimo.

   The guidebook suggested that we visit the local cathedral, so that's what we did.

   But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.

   2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian

   Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: venture, hazard, propose, float, bring up, moot

4. obsoletetransitiveTo seduce; to prompt to evil; to tempt.

   Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested.

   c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]