Part of speech: nounsight / hearing, etc.
1 [C] one of the five powers (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) that your body uses to get information about the world around you:
the five senses * Dogs have a keen (= strong) sense of smell. * the sense organs (= eyes, ears, nose, etc.) * I could hardly believe the evidence of my own senses (= what I could see, hear, etc.). * The mixture of sights, smells and sounds around her made her senses reel.
seealsoSIXTHSENSE
feeling
2 [C] a feeling about sth important:
He felt an overwhelming sense of loss. * a strong sense of purpose / identity / duty * Doesn't she have any sense of guilt about what she did? * Helmets can give cyclists a false sense of security. * I had the sense that he was worried about something.
understanding / judgement
3 [sing.] an understanding about sth; an ability to judge sth:
One of the most important things in a partner is a sense of humour (= the ability to find things funny or make people laugh). * He has a very good sense of direction (= finds the way to a place easily). * She has lost all sense of direction in her life. * Always try to keep a sense of proportion (= of the relative importance of different things). * a sense of rhythm / timing * Alex doesn't have any dress sense (= does not know which clothes look attractive).
seealsoROADSENSE
4 [U] good understanding and judgement; knowledge of what is sensible or practical behaviour:
You should have the sense to take advice when it is offered. * There's no sense in (= it is not sensible) worrying about it now. * Can't you talk sense (= say sth sensible)? * There's a lot of sense in what Mary says.
seealsoCOMMONSENSE, GOODSENSE
normal state of mind
5 (senses) [pl.] a normal state of mind; the ability to think clearly:
If she threatens to leave, it should bring him to his senses. * He waited for Dora to come to her senses and return. * (old-fashioned) Are you out of your senses? You'll be killed! * (old-fashioned) Why does she want to marry him? She must have taken leave of her senses.
meaning
6 [C] the meaning that a word or phrase has; a way of understanding sth:
The word 'love' is used in different senses by different people. * education in its broadest sense * He was a true friend, in every sense of the word (= in every possible way). * In a sense (= in one way) it doesn't matter any more. * In some senses (= in one or more ways) the criticisms were justified. * The medical care was excellent, in a technical sense. * (formal) In no sense can the issue be said to be resolved. * There is a sense in which we are all to blame for the tragedy. -< SENSIBLE
IDIOMS
knock / talk some sense into sb to try and persuade sb to stop behaving in a stupid way, sometimes using rough or violent methods:
Try and talk some sense into her before she makes the wrong decision. * Where would I be without you to knock some sense into my head?
make sense
1 to have a meaning that you can easily understand:
This sentence doesn't make sense.
2 to be a sensible thing to do:
It makes sense to buy the most up-to-date version.
3 to be easy to understand or explain:
John wasn't making much sense on the phone. * Who would send me all these flowers? It makes no sense.
make sense of sth to understand sth that is difficult or has no clear meaning:
I can't make sense of that painting.
see sense to start to be sensible or reasonable
a sense of occasion a feeling or understanding that an event is important or special:
Candles on the table gave the evening a sense of occasion.
verb (not used in the progressive tenses)
become aware
1 to become aware of sth even though you cannot see it, hear it, etc:
[VN] Sensing danger, they started to run. * [V] Thomas, she sensed, could convince anyone of anything. * I sensed a note of tension in his voice. * [V(that)] Lisa sensed that he did not believe her. [also VN-ing, VNinf, Vwh-]
of machine
2 [VN] to discover and record sth:
equipment that senses the presence of toxic gases
