Speculate

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Speculate \Spec"u*late\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Speculated}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Speculating}.] [L. speculatus, p. p. of
     speculari to spy out, observe, fr. specula a lookout, fr.
     specere to look. See {Spy}.]
     1. To consider by turning a subject in the mind, and viewing
        it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to


        contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in
        religion; to speculate on political events.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most
              boldly often conform with the most pefect quietude
              to the external regulations of society. --Hawthorne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Philos.) To view subjects from certain premises given or
        assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Com.) To purchase with the expectation of a contingent
        advance in value, and a consequent sale at a profit; --
        often, in a somewhat depreciative sense, of unsound or
        hazardous transactions; as, to speculate in coffee, in
        sugar, or in bank stock.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Speculate \Spec"u*late\, v. t.
     To consider attentively; as, to speculate the nature of a
     thing. [R.] --Sir W. Hamilton.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  speculate
       v 1: to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds;
            "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in
            swamps" [syn: {theorize}, {theorise}, {conjecture}, {hypothesize},
             {hypothesise}, {hypothecate}, {suppose}]
       2: talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way
          and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason
          to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the
          President had to resign after the scandal"
       3: reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of
          the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the
          question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist
          must stop to observe and start to excogitate" [syn: {chew
          over}, {think over}, {meditate}, {ponder}, {excogitate}, {contemplate},
           {muse}, {reflect}, {mull}, {mull over}, {ruminate}]
       4: invest at a risk; "I bought this house not because I want to
          live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am
          speculating" [syn: {job}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  122 Moby Thesaurus words for "speculate":
     be abstracted, be caught short, be short, belong, brood, bucket,
     bucketshop, buy in, buy into, call, cast a horoscope,
     cast a nativity, cast lots, cerebrate, chew over, chew the cud,
     cogitate, consider, contemplate, cut lots, cut the cards, debate,
     deliberate, deposit margin, digest, divine, dope, dope out,
     dowse for water, draw lots, draw straws, entertain a theory,
     espouse a theory, evaluate, excogitate, financier, forebode,
     forecast, foresee, foretell, fortune-tell, gamble, game, go long,
     guess, hariolate, have a theory, hold on, hypothesize, introspect,
     invest, invest in, judge, lay out money, lot, make a killing,
     make a prediction, make a prognosis, make a prophecy, make a scoop,
     make an investment, margin up, match coins, meditate,
     miss the market, mull over, muse, operate, overstay the market,
     perpend, place, play, play around with, play at dice,
     play the market, play the ponies, play with, plow back into,
     plunge, ponder, ponder over, postulate, predict, prefigure,
     presage, prognosticate, prophesy, put, pyramid, raffle off,
     read palms, read tea leaves, read the future, reason, reflect,
     reinvest, review, risk, ruminate, scalp, scoop the market,
     shoot craps, sink, sink money in, soothsay, sport, stag,
     stag the market, study, take a chance, take a flier, tell fortunes,
     tell the future, theorize, toss, toy with, trade on margin,
     vaticinate, venture, wager, weigh, wonder about