Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: sens, from Latin sensus, from sentire 'to feel'


1 noun
Related topics: Human
sense1 S1 W1
1 [countable] a feeling about something
sense of
Afterwards I felt a great sense of relief.
She has a strong sense of loyalty.
A sense of panic has spread over the country.
Employees need the sense of being appreciated.
with a sense of something
He looked around the room with a sense of achievement.
sense that
I had the sense that he was lying.
a sense of occasion (=a feeling that an event is very special or important)
Everyone wants to create a sense of occasion at Christmas.
2 [singular] the ability to understand or judge something
sense of humour British English /sense of humor American English (=the ability to understand and enjoy things that are funny)
I like Pam - she has a really good sense of humour.
sense of direction (=the ability to judge which way you should be going, or what your aims should be)
It was dark and he had completely lost his sense of direction.
sense of proportion (=the ability to judge what is important and what is not important)
Let's keep a sense of proportion, and not rush to any hasty conclusions.
dress/clothes sense (=the ability to judge which clothes look good)
3 [countable]HBH one of the five natural powers of sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell, that give us information about the things around us
sense of smell/taste/touch etc
She has a good sense of smell.
Cats have a very acute sense of hearing (=very good, so that they can hear even the smallest sound).
Combinations of flavors, textures, and colour that can delight the senses.
the five senses (=all of the senses)
sixth sense
4 [uncountable] when someone makes sensible or practical decisions, or behaves in a sensible, practical way
have the sense to do something (=behave in a sensible way and do what is best in that situation)
You should have had the sense to turn off the electricity first.
there is no sense in (doing) something spoken (=it is not sensible to do something)
There's no sense in getting upset about it now.
see sense (=realize what is the sensible thing to do)
I wish the politicians would see sense and stop the war.
talk/knock some sense into somebody (=try to make someone behave in a more sensible way)
common sense

make sense

a) to have a clear meaning and be easy to understand:
Read this and tell me if it makes sense.
b) to be a sensible thing to do
it makes sense (for somebody) to do something
It makes sense to save money while you can.
Would it make sense for the city authorities to further restrict parking?
c) if something makes sense, there seems to be a good reason or explanation for it:
Why did she do a thing like that? It doesn't seem to make sense.

make (some) sense of something

to understand something, especially something difficult or complicated:
Can you make any sense of this article?
7 [countable] the meaning of a word, sentence, phrase etc:
The word 'record' has several different senses.
Any alteration would spoil the sense of the entire poem.
8 [countable] a way in which something can be true or real
in a sense/in one sense/in some senses etc (=in one way, in some ways etc)
What he says is right in a sense.
The hotel was in no sense (=not at all) comfortable.
George was a big man in every sense of the word (=in every way).
This is true in a general sense.
Communication, in any real sense (=of any real kind), was extremely limited.
in a (very) real sense (=used to emphasize that a statement or description is true)
A head of a school is a manager in a very real sense.

your/her etc senses

someone's ability to think clearly and behave sensibly - used in some expressions when you think that someone has lost this ability
come to your senses
One day he'll come to his senses and see what a fool he's been (=to start to think clearly and behave sensibly again).
See if you can bring her to her senses. (=make someone think clearly and behave sensibly)
be out of your senses (=have lost the ability to think clearly and behave sensibly)
Are you completely out of your senses?

➔ take leave of your senses

at leave2 (6)

talk sense

spoken to say things that are reasonable or sensible - often used when you think someone has just said something silly:
Talk sense! There's no way we can afford a new car!

regain your senses

old-fashioned to stop feeling faint or slightly sick

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