SUGGESTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does suggestion mean? 

• SUGGESTION (noun)
  The noun SUGGESTION has 6 senses:

1. an idea that is suggested

2. a proposal offered for acceptance or rejection

3. a just detectable amount

4. persuasion formulated as a suggestion

5. the sequential mental process in which one thought leads to another by association

6. the act of inducing hypnosis

  Familiarity information: SUGGESTION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUGGESTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An idea that is suggested

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

the picnic was her suggestion

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "suggestion"):

glimmer; glimmering; inkling; intimation (a slight suggestion or vague understanding)

posthypnotic suggestion (a suggestion that is made to a person who is hypnotized that specifies an action he will perform (usually in response to a cue) after he has awakened)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A proposal offered for acceptance or rejection

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

proffer; proposition; suggestion

Context example:

it was a suggestion we couldn't refuse

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

proposal (something proposed (such as a plan or assumption))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "suggestion"):

breath; hint; intimation (an indirect suggestion)

ghost; touch; trace (a suggestion of some quality)

advance; approach; feeler; overture (a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others)

Derivation:

suggest (make a proposal, declare a plan for something)

suggest (drop a hint; intimate by a hint)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A just detectable amount

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

hint; suggestion; tint; trace

Context example:

a tint of glamour

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "suggestion"):

spark (a small but noticeable trace of some quality that might become stronger)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Persuasion formulated as a suggestion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

prompting; suggestion

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

persuasion; suasion (the act of persuading (or attempting to persuade); communication intended to induce belief or action)

Derivation:

suggest (make a proposal, declare a plan for something)

suggest (imply as a possibility)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The sequential mental process in which one thought leads to another by association

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

higher cognitive process (cognitive processes that presuppose the availability of knowledge and put it to use)

Derivation:

suggest (call to mind)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of inducing hypnosis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

hypnotism; mesmerism; suggestion

Hypernyms ("suggestion" is a kind of...):

influence (causing something without any direct or apparent effort)

 Context examples 

‘Have you any suggestion to make?’ I asked.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I judged by your countenance, sir, which was troubled when you said the suggestion had returned upon you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Catherine's blood ran cold with the horrid suggestions which naturally sprang from these words.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

No. The suggestion is not appropriate to our Dora.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This is not the time to take the role of leader—instead, entertain others’ ideas and suggestions.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The act of giving information, suggestion, or recommendation to a group or individual.

(Advising, NCI Thesaurus)

Miss Crawford, pleased with the appeal, gave her all her best judgment and taste, made everything easy by her suggestions, and tried to make everything agreeable by her encouragement.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A trance-like state in which a person becomes more aware and focused and is more open to suggestion.

(Hypnosis, NCI Dictionary)

I entered, and I took you into my confidence as to the suggestions of the side table.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The only suggestion in this direction comes from Mortimer Tregennis himself, who says that his brother spoke about some movement in the garden.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)