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idea

Syllabification: (i·de·a)
Pronunciation: /īˈdēə/
Translate idea | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of idea

noun

  • 1a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action:they don’t think it’s a very good idea
  • a concept or mental impression:our menu list will give you some idea of how interesting a low-fat diet can be
  • an opinion or belief:nineteenth-century ideas about drinking
  • 2 (the idea) the aim or purpose:I took a job with the idea of getting some money together
  • 3 Philosophy (in Platonic thought) an eternally existing pattern of which individual things in any class are imperfect copies.
  • (in Kantian thought) a concept of pure reason, not empirically based in experience.

Phrases

get (or give someone) ideas

informal become (or make someone) ambitious, bigheaded, or tempted to do something against someone else’s will, especially make a sexual advance:Mac began to get ideas about turning pro

have (got) no idea

informal not know at all:she had no idea where she was going

not someone's idea of

informal not what someone regards as:it’s not my idea of a happy ending

put ideas into someone's head

suggest ambitions or thoughts that a person would not otherwise have had.

that's an idea

informal that suggestion or proposal is worth considering.

that's the idea

informal used to confirm to someone that they have understood something or they are doing something correctly:“A sort of bodyguard?” “That’s the idea.”

the very idea!

informal an exclamation of disapproval or disagreement.

Origin:

late Middle English (sense 3): via Latin from Greek idea 'form, pattern', from the base of idein 'to see'

idea in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of idea in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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