THINKING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does thinking mean? 

• THINKING (noun)
  The noun THINKING has 1 sense:

1. the process of using your mind to consider something carefully

  Familiarity information: THINKING used as a noun is very rare.

• THINKING (adjective)
  The adjective THINKING has 1 sense:

1. endowed with the capacity to reason

  Familiarity information: THINKING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THINKING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of using your mind to consider something carefully

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

cerebration; intellection; mentation; thinking; thought; thought process

Context example:

she paused for thought

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

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

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

free association (a thought process in which ideas (words or images) suggest other ideas in a sequence)

construction; mental synthesis (the creation of a construct; the process of combining ideas into a congruous object of thought)

abstract thought; logical thinking; reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

line of thought (a particular way of thinking that is characteristic of some individual or group)

thread; train of thought (the connections that link the various parts of an event or argument together)

mysticism (obscure or irrational thought)

ideation (the process of forming and relating ideas)

consideration (the process of giving careful thought to something)

excogitation (thinking something out with care in order to achieve complete understanding of it)

explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)

planning; preparation; provision (the cognitive process of thinking about what you will do in the event of something happening)

problem solving (the thought processes involved in solving a problem)

convergent thinking (thinking that brings together information focussed on solving a problem (especially solving problems that have a single correct solution))

divergent thinking; out-of-the-box thinking (thinking that moves away in diverging directions so as to involve a variety of aspects and which sometimes lead to novel ideas and solutions; associated with creativity)

Derivation:

think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)

think (decide by pondering, reasoning, or reflecting)

• THINKING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Endowed with the capacity to reason

Synonyms:

intelligent; reasoning; thinking

Similar:

rational (consistent with or based on or using reason)

 Context examples 

I asked Jonathan why he was disturbed, and he answered, evidently thinking that I knew as much about it as he did: "Do you see who it is?"

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

What I have been thinking of, this month back!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I can’t help thinking that your evidence is not complete.

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

I stood for five minutes thinking the business over, and trying to analyze my impressions.

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

I glanced at him again, and he seemed to know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to tell me to be still.

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

“I was not thinking of taking them aboard when I made that promise,” he answered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

For he was thinking, likewise, of another passage up the rocks, to which they would soon come, and where the little birds would all be gone.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"We have made very few changes either," continued the Admiral, after thinking a moment.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

That is just my way of thinking.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)