See Also: sense 1, noun(dictionary)
sense(1)(dictionary)
sense(encyclopedia)
sense(2)(dictionary)
Sense(medicine)
time sense(medicine)
visceral sense(medicine)
thermal sense(medicine)
Common Sense(money)
Makes Sense(money)

sense 1, noun (oh)



[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: sens, from Latin sensus, from sentire 'to feel']
[C] 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 sth
::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.
[singular] the ability to understand or judge something
sense of humour BrE sense of humor AmE (=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.
sense of justice/fairness
::Kids have a natural sense of justice .
dress/clothes sense
(=the ability to judge which clothes look good)
[C] 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)
-see also sixth sense
[U] when someone makes sensible or practical decisions, or behaves in a sensible, practical way
have the sense to do sth
(=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) sth 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 sb
(=try to make someone behave in a more sensible way)
-see also 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 sb) to do sth
::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 sth
to understand something, especially something difficult or complicated
::Can you make any sense of this article?
[C] 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.
[C] 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?
-see also take leave of your senses at leave 2 (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
::Outside, she quickly regained her senses.