speculate
[verb]
Synonyms:
- conjecture, consider, guess, hypothesize, suppose, surmise, theorize, wonder
- gamble, hazard, risk, venture

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Related Idioms: beat one's brains, turn over in one's mind, use the gray matter
Related Words: excogitate, review, study, weigh

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

spec‧u‧late /ˈspekjəleɪt, ˈspekjʊleɪt/ verb
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: Latin; Origin: past participle of speculari 'to watch (secretly)', from specere 'to look (at)']

1. [intransitive and transitive] to guess about the possible causes or effects of something, without knowing all the facts or details:
She refused to speculate.
speculate on/about (why/what etc)
Jones refused to speculate about what might happen.
speculate that
Some analysts speculated that jobs will be lost.

2. [intransitive] to buy goods, property, shares in a company etc, hoping that you will make a large profit when you sell them
speculate in/on
He speculated in stocks.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

speculate
verb
VERB + SPECULATE can/could only | decline to, refuse to | be fascinating to, be interesting to, be tempting to | be idle to It is idle to speculate what the consequences would have been.
be difficult to
PREP. about There was no point speculating about the possibility of them getting back together.
as to We can only speculate as to this man's identity.
on/upon He refused to speculate on her reasons for leaving.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲