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doubt
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
doubt
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be filled with horror/fear/anger/doubt/remorse
▪ Their faces were suddenly filled with fear.
cast aside your inhibitions/doubts etc
▪ Cast aside your fears.
confirm your fears/doubts/suspicions etc
▪ This just confirms my worst fears.
doubt the existence of sth (=not believe that something exists)
▪ Some people doubt the existence of life at the very bottom of the ocean.
doubting Thomas
express doubts/reservations (=say or show that you are not sure whether something is true or right)
▪ Environmentalists began to express doubts about the benefits of biofuels.
grave doubts
▪ I have grave doubts about his ability.
lingering doubts/suspicions etc
▪ Any lingering hopes of winning the title soon disappeared.
nagging feeling/doubt/suspicion etc
▪ There was still a nagging doubt in the back of her mind.
not a shred of doubt (=no doubt at all)
▪ There’s not a shred of doubt in my mind that we will win.
question/doubt the wisdom of (doing) sth
▪ Local people are questioning the wisdom of spending so much money on a new road.
raises doubts
▪ The way the research was carried out raises doubts about the results.
room for doubt/debate/argument etc
▪ The evidence was clear, and there was little room for doubt.
sow doubt/confusion/dissatisfaction etc
▪ an attempt to sow doubt among the jury members
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
grave
▪ But there is grave doubt among environmentalists as to whether the Government will fulfil its promises according to schedule.
▪ I had grave doubts about where he might take it.
▪ There must, too, be the gravest doubts about a system which excludes those who prefer not to join a union.
▪ In my talk with Alec he himself expressed grave doubts whether he wished to take it on.
▪ The gravest doubt which has assailed historians about Charlemagne's moral and educational programme is whether it had much effect.
▪ I have grave doubts about that.
▪ Simply as a proposition this is open to grave doubt.
little
▪ When there are more than one stand-off per side, there is little doubt as to which way round the spars are fitted.
▪ There is little doubt that these people are at the heart of the restaurant's achievements.
▪ These days, there is little doubt that creatures possess a mind structure.
▪ There would seem to have been little doubt, however, in Mr Justice Lindley's mind.
▪ There was little doubt among those concerned that through education youth could be made to exhibit the appropriate values.
▪ But there can be little doubt that such change is not going to happen overnight.
▪ There is little doubt that these are proper, necessary and central focuses for educational policy and practice.
▪ There can be little doubt that Hoccleve is describing his own experience.
reasonable
▪ If theft is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, they should consider handling.
▪ They had to feel, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Bill had killed Sandy.
▪ But they are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt so they decide, quite properly, to acquit of robbery.
▪ It means only that prosecutors failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.
▪ Civilised society generally only convicts where a man is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ Once the issue is validly raised, the prosecution has the burden of disproving it beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ For example, one can prove beyond a reasonable degree of doubt that a conservation project reduces the rate of soil removal.
▪ In many cases, it will be hard for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is lying.
serious
▪ The awful thing was that, as I said it, I began to have serious doubts about it.
▪ In cases of serious doubt, there are a variety of techniques for assessing employees' reactions.
▪ To close one magazine is unlucky; but to close two casts serious doubts on your capabilities as a publisher.
▪ Even among some Taft supporters, however, there were serious doubts that the controversial senator could win the presidency.
▪ Robert would have to hit him with something a bit more serious than doubts.
▪ For these reasons, the Conservatives are a little more responsive to widespread expressions of serious doubt on their own backbenches.
▪ At this point I began to have serious doubts about this man's hold on reality.
▪ But the true history of Opren raises serious doubts about this picture of events.
■ VERB
cast
▪ Again there is a considerable literature on the use of aims and objectives in curriculum planning that casts doubts on its efficacy.
▪ I just had to cast doubt on his assertions.
▪ It casts more doubt on Wallace's conviction in 1981 of the killing of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Lewis.
▪ What they have found tends only to cast more doubt on an already shaky government probe.
▪ Tim White casts doubts on Kalb's ability to discharge his undertakings to care for the material he had collected.
▪ Mr Portillo cast doubt over the tax policy as soon as he returned to the shadow cabinet this year.
▪ Journalists and diplomatic sources, however, cast doubt on the government's version.
▪ These conclusions have led revisionists to cast doubt on three of the assumptions underlying the liberal interpretation.
express
▪ Occasionally a customer will express doubts about the selling of such specimens when they should, perhaps be displayed in museums.
▪ The comedian expressed doubts about his ability to perform without a live audience, but agreed to do it.
▪ People like Ybreska were too afraid to have a commitment, even to openly express doubts.
▪ But we expressed our doubts regarding La Strada.
▪ Indeed, it was a question about which, at p. 311B, Roskill L.J. expressed doubts.
▪ Critics have expressed doubts about the draughtsmanship of both artists.
▪ However, some analysts have expressed doubts about management continuity.
▪ Rumours that no scientist expressed doubts about the potential problems are falsehoods perpetrated by officials with a vested interest.
leave
▪ The head is broadly thick-set with a mouth which leaves no doubts as to the diet.
▪ The statistics leave no doubt that the triumph of capital has lead to more and more unequal distribution of income and wealth.
▪ Given my own predicament, I was left in no doubt that Cooper and Murphy had also been fitted up.
▪ If you do not do so, you may be left in some doubt as to when a constructive dismissal occurs.
▪ They left me in no doubt that spiritually they had evolved much beyond their young ages.
▪ Nevertheless, the world of classical scholarship was left in no doubt about one thing.
▪ Years of experience have left him with nagging doubts about the seemingly perfect customers.
prove
▪ If this could be proved beyond doubt, direct drilling would fit in well with the organic philosophy.
▪ The believer is not required to establish his belief, but the skeptic is required to prove his doubt.
▪ If theft is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, they should consider handling.
▪ Geological evidence proves beyond doubt that it is three million years old.
▪ In court their guilt had been proved beyond doubt, so why hadn't they confessed?
▪ His accomplishments prove, beyond a doubt, the efficacy of full self-expression.
▪ This means a case does not have to be proved beyond all reasonable doubt.
▪ In many cases, it will be hard for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is lying.
raise
▪ A few astronomers have raised doubts about this extrapolation from ordinary galaxies to all extragalactic objects.
▪ But the $ 100 million miss raises new doubts about when that will be.
▪ Only a few Marxists raise fundamental doubt about Therborn's assumption above that in liberal democracy the exploiting minority rules through elections.
▪ I raised some of these doubts with Einar one night during semaphore practice.
▪ Research has also raised doubts about the role of imitation in children's learning of language.
▪ Our job, after all, is merely to raise a doubt.
▪ So instead of providing reassurance, it raises doubts in customers' minds.
▪ This raises doubts about some of the signposts the Fed used to rely on.
seem
▪ There seems to be little doubt, however, that the development of the form imbricata is determined genetically.
▪ There seems no doubt ever in your minds that the Emperor is more powerful than you are, or Hari Seldon wiser.
▪ There seems little doubt about who is being foolishly insulting.
▪ There seems little doubt that the richest clubs went on evading the maximum wage regulation.
▪ There seems little doubt that such feeling existed, especially in the 1340s and 1350s.
▪ Nobody seemed to have any doubt that Pencader would trounce his rivals on his debut at Newbury last month.
▪ Worse still are cases in which only the jurist seems to be in doubt as to what kind of disposition is involved.
▪ There seems little doubt that, by the next century, it will be the international language in every field.
throw
▪ In the sickroom or with Diniz, Nicholas never threw doubt on the arrival of Katelina's dream fleet.
▪ Recent judicial decisions have thrown doubt upon this point, as indicated in the following hypothetical discussion.
▪ Wallis further throws doubt on Gusfield's claim that he had in fact identified a status group.
▪ The absence of Hebrew graffiti at Abu Simbel is perhaps not sufficient to throw doubt upon Aristeas.
▪ The devolution programme of Wahid's administration may also be thrown into doubt.
▪ The market people passed comments on his wife and, he said, threw doubt on his ability to better her.
▪ The crisis will throw further doubt on the Government's drive to cut waiting lists.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be open to question/doubt
▪ The authenticity of the relics is open to doubt.
▪ Their motives are open to question.
▪ But whether Republicans want to cooperate is open to question.
▪ Even if, as is open to question, screen violence really does invite emulation, that is the wrong approach.
▪ In particular, the significance of the small number who say their work has been deskilled is open to question.
▪ It also is open to question how well equipped courts are to make this kind of determination-about the workings of economic markets.
▪ The entire business of basing regulations on animal tests is open to question.
▪ The President acceded to the Chancellor's request for two reasons, both of which were open to question.
▪ Whether the yeast could ever be as abundant as this is open to question.
▪ Whether this kind of Labour Party is capable of winning a general election is open to doubt.
beyond (a) reasonable doubt
▪ Civilised society generally only convicts where a man is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ Finally, although it is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, most experts agree that dry foods are beneficial to the teeth.
▪ If theft is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, they should consider handling.
▪ If we knew that, I think we'd be beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ In many cases, it will be hard for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is lying.
▪ It means only that prosecutors failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.
▪ Once the issue is validly raised, the prosecution has the burden of disproving it beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ They had to feel, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Bill had killed Sandy.
cast doubt(s) on sth
▪ A foot abscess had cast doubts on the colt's participation in the Epsom Classic on Wednesday week.
▪ Both studies cast doubt on individuals' awareness of tax changes and therefore suggest a low labour response.
▪ But this very silence casts doubt on Mancini's central point that the council actually voted down the king's expressed wishes.
▪ Journalists and diplomatic sources, however, cast doubt on the government's version.
▪ Some are oversensitive, which leads to annoyance and casts doubt on readings which might not be inaccurate.
▪ That, the authors conclude, casts doubt on the refuge hypothesis.
▪ This casts doubt on the suggestion that Asclepiodatus was also responsible for the shorter prologue of Lex Salica.
▪ To cast doubt on the importance of production is thus to bring into questIon the foundation of the entire edifice.
element of surprise/truth/risk/doubt etc
▪ I like the element of risk.
▪ If Weaver had been watching as Liz Spalding had been smuggled into the house, then the element of surprise was lost.
▪ It contains a major element of truth, even if it is not precisely the truth which its originators intended.
▪ The element of risk gave it an added excitement.
▪ There is an element of truth in all of these.
▪ There were elements of truth in this critique, Jim supposed.
▪ Web browsers, once limited to displaying text and graphics and downloading files, have created an entirely new element of risk.
▪ What I do is count on the element of surprise.
give sb the benefit of the doubt
▪ She claimed she wasn't trying to commit suicide, and doctors gave her the benefit of the doubt.
▪ Something didn't seem quite right, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
niggling doubt/worry/suspicion etc
▪ Almost immediately, the fretting, niggling worries and the sense of fearful anticipation began to return.
▪ Always, in the background, in the dim recesses of her mind, there had been that niggling doubt.
▪ And here a niggling doubt enters the mind.
▪ Nor did it remove the niggling suspicion that Isabel was hiding something.
▪ Of course, this is usually so, but I am having little niggling doubts about such a sweeping statement.
▪ There remains the niggling doubt that this delay has something to do with our muddled sentimentality towards animals.
▪ There was, however, a niggling doubt in the minds of some of the jurors.
not the slightest chance/doubt/difference etc
▪ But whether the parent with the yellow flowers supplies the egg or the pollen makes not the slightest difference.
▪ I tried closing my eyes; it made not the slightest difference.
▪ There was now not the slightest doubt that Hsu was decaying and losing her structural integrity.
plant an idea/doubt/suspicion (in sb's mind)
▪ Their conversation had planted doubts in Dennis' mind about the partnership.
throw doubt on sth
▪ In the sickroom or with Diniz, Nicholas never threw doubt on the arrival of Katelina's dream fleet.
▪ The market people passed comments on his wife and, he said, threw doubt on his ability to better her.
▪ Wallis further throws doubt on Gusfield's claim that he had in fact identified a status group.
▪ What they have to say throws doubt on previous inferences about how labour-intensive Maya agricultural techniques were, at least at San Antonio.
without/beyond a shadow of a doubt
▪ Don't ask me how - but I knew it without a shadow of a doubt.
▪ Now she knew without a shadow of doubt that she wasn't.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I hope to convince any doubters in the audience that our policies will work.
▪ There are still some doubts about her suitability for the job.
▪ There seems to be some doubt as to what warnings were given.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Especially in the early thirties, the ideas in the central tradition acted powerfully to breed such doubts.
▪ He worked to dispel his doubts about his friend as though to pass another test, like his ordeal in the park.
▪ However, some critics have expressed doubts over whether future governments can be locked into the promises.
▪ If in doubt, try the front door.
▪ It casts more doubt on Wallace's conviction in 1981 of the killing of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Lewis.
▪ Little doubt what the weight of opinion was there.
▪ Then he thought of Benedicta and felt a twinge of doubt.
▪ There seems no doubt ever in your minds that the Emperor is more powerful than you are, or Hari Seldon wiser.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
never
▪ Her family had never doubted she was heading for the top job.
▪ He never doubted that he knew all.
▪ I think you need never doubt that he loves you.
▪ Some of the tales were the apocrypha of his enemies, others Mitchell never doubted to be true.
▪ I never doubted that I was on a road that led somewhere.
▪ We never doubted that the way we did things would catch on.
▪ The Khatami camp never doubted that their man would win a second presidential term.
▪ Walt Disney never doubted for a moment that he could make Snow white.
seriously
▪ Nobody seriously doubts that butter is lovely stuff.
▪ Montagu testified that they never seriously doubted Lloyd George's ability to form a Government.
▪ I doubt if anyone would seriously doubt that, now, as a matter of fact, this is the case.
▪ Questions about why these examples and not others constantly loom, because we can seriously doubt how representative the selected texts are.
■ NOUN
ability
▪ None doubted his ability, but Hardaker frowned upon his frankness.
▪ Some doubted its ability to withstand rough weather.
▪ She doubted her own ability to survive that long.
▪ Montagu testified that they never seriously doubted Lloyd George's ability to form a Government.
▪ She would have liked to be nearer to the panel, but she doubted her ability to kneel or squat in the spacesuit.
▪ I doubt my ability for it.
▪ But still she doubted her ability to hold out against him.
existence
▪ But do we doubt the existence of thought?
▪ In 4.2 I gave reasons for doubting the existence or if not the existence the usefulness of infallible beliefs.
▪ You don't doubt the existence of chairs and tables, or the paper on which these words are written.
reason
▪ Was there any reason to doubt that 1972 would be just as successful?
▪ There is little reason to doubt O'Neill's honesty: clearly she had a very unusual experience.
▪ There are many reasons to doubt that.
▪ There is little reason to doubt the efficiency of this engine of justice.
▪ While there were clearly political motives involved, there seems no reason to doubt his sincerity.
▪ We know this from Soviet accounts, but there is little reason to doubt them.
▪ Those who proclaimed it may have done so for cynical reasons, but I doubt that they genuinely believed it.
validity
▪ Not for one moment did he doubt the validity of those ideas.
▪ Such evidence casts doubt on the validity of the income / leisure trade-off model.
▪ Later we shall have cause to doubt its accuracy and validity.
▪ If our beliefs have never been challenged or put to the test we may doubt their validity now.
wisdom
▪ It was as if the mere presence of the prize made each man doubt his own wisdom.
word
▪ Once you doubt my word, that's it.
▪ I expect you will not doubt my word too?
▪ It never occurred to her to doubt the warrior's word.
▪ She doubted the words would even be able to leave her mouth.
■ VERB
begin
▪ By the autumn of 1959, the Chiefs of Staff had begun to doubt its viability as an effective deterrent.
▪ I was teaching economics and watching people die on the streets when I began doubting what I had learned from the textbooks.
▪ I began to doubt my own soundness of mind.
▪ He had even begun to doubt himself!
▪ Otherwise we begin to doubt the concept.
▪ Some people began to doubt Frank.
cast
▪ The Newsweek story also casts doubt on the official version of what happened to Whitewater itself.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be open to question/doubt
▪ The authenticity of the relics is open to doubt.
▪ Their motives are open to question.
▪ But whether Republicans want to cooperate is open to question.
▪ Even if, as is open to question, screen violence really does invite emulation, that is the wrong approach.
▪ In particular, the significance of the small number who say their work has been deskilled is open to question.
▪ It also is open to question how well equipped courts are to make this kind of determination-about the workings of economic markets.
▪ The entire business of basing regulations on animal tests is open to question.
▪ The President acceded to the Chancellor's request for two reasons, both of which were open to question.
▪ Whether the yeast could ever be as abundant as this is open to question.
▪ Whether this kind of Labour Party is capable of winning a general election is open to doubt.
beyond (a) reasonable doubt
▪ Civilised society generally only convicts where a man is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ Finally, although it is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, most experts agree that dry foods are beneficial to the teeth.
▪ If theft is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, they should consider handling.
▪ If we knew that, I think we'd be beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ In many cases, it will be hard for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is lying.
▪ It means only that prosecutors failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, he said.
▪ Once the issue is validly raised, the prosecution has the burden of disproving it beyond reasonable doubt.
▪ They had to feel, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Bill had killed Sandy.
element of surprise/truth/risk/doubt etc
▪ I like the element of risk.
▪ If Weaver had been watching as Liz Spalding had been smuggled into the house, then the element of surprise was lost.
▪ It contains a major element of truth, even if it is not precisely the truth which its originators intended.
▪ The element of risk gave it an added excitement.
▪ There is an element of truth in all of these.
▪ There were elements of truth in this critique, Jim supposed.
▪ Web browsers, once limited to displaying text and graphics and downloading files, have created an entirely new element of risk.
▪ What I do is count on the element of surprise.
give sb the benefit of the doubt
▪ She claimed she wasn't trying to commit suicide, and doctors gave her the benefit of the doubt.
▪ Something didn't seem quite right, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
niggling doubt/worry/suspicion etc
▪ Almost immediately, the fretting, niggling worries and the sense of fearful anticipation began to return.
▪ Always, in the background, in the dim recesses of her mind, there had been that niggling doubt.
▪ And here a niggling doubt enters the mind.
▪ Nor did it remove the niggling suspicion that Isabel was hiding something.
▪ Of course, this is usually so, but I am having little niggling doubts about such a sweeping statement.
▪ There remains the niggling doubt that this delay has something to do with our muddled sentimentality towards animals.
▪ There was, however, a niggling doubt in the minds of some of the jurors.
not the slightest chance/doubt/difference etc
▪ But whether the parent with the yellow flowers supplies the egg or the pollen makes not the slightest difference.
▪ I tried closing my eyes; it made not the slightest difference.
▪ There was now not the slightest doubt that Hsu was decaying and losing her structural integrity.
without/beyond a shadow of a doubt
▪ Don't ask me how - but I knew it without a shadow of a doubt.
▪ Now she knew without a shadow of doubt that she wasn't.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ At the time we seriously doubted that the doctor had got the diagnosis right.
▪ He doubted that the car was hers because everyone knew she had no money.
▪ He may be able to do a good job, but I doubt it.
▪ He wondered how he could ever have doubted her.
▪ I doubt whether I'll be able to find a decent car for the price I can afford.
▪ I very much doubt whether we'll get someone for the job by September.
▪ In all the years I knew him I never once doubted his story.
▪ It was possible that Maggie had been delayed, but he doubted it.
▪ She says she'll leave him, but I doubt very much that she will.
▪ Some people doubted that the attacks on the American ships had actually taken place.
▪ The Navy never seriously doubted the inquiry's findings.
▪ They seriously doubted whether the letter had ever existed.
▪ We'd better go to the party, but I doubt if it'll be very exciting.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Her sincerity made me doubt my own version of events.
▪ I doubted that I would find one in time.
▪ No-one can doubt its power to evoke the imagination of millions upon millions of people through the ages and today.
▪ Still, I could not doubt that my vision had occurred, even though I had no way to verify it.
▪ They doubt that Caravaggio was even homosexual, as is widely believed.
▪ Who could doubt that at this late date?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Doubt

Doubt \Doubt\ (dout), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Doubted; p. pr. & vb. n. Doubting.] [OE. duten, douten, OF. duter, doter, douter, F. douter, fr. L. dubitare; akin to dubius doubtful. See Dubious.]

  1. To waver in opinion or judgment; to be in uncertainty as to belief respecting anything; to hesitate in belief; to be undecided as to the truth of the negative or the affirmative proposition; to b e undetermined.

    Even in matters divine, concerning some things, we may lawfully doubt, and suspend our judgment.
    --Hooker.

    To try your love and make you doubt of mine.
    --Dryden.

  2. To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive. [Obs.]

    Syn: To waver; vacillate; fluctuate; hesitate; demur; scruple; question.

Doubt

Doubt \Doubt\, v. t.

  1. To question or hold questionable; to withhold assent to; to hesitate to believe, or to be inclined not to believe; to withhold confidence from; to distrust; as, I have heard the story, but I doubt the truth of it.

    To admire superior sense, and doubt their own!
    --Pope.

    I doubt not that however changed, you keep So much of what is graceful.
    --Tennyson.

    To doubt not but.

    I do not doubt but I have been to blame.
    --Dryden.

    We doubt not now But every rub is smoothed on our way.
    --Shak.

    Note: That is, we have no doubt to prevent us from believing, etc. (or notwithstanding all that may be said to the contrary) -- but having a preventive sense, after verbs of ``doubting'' and ``denying'' that convey a notion of hindrance.
    --E. A. Abbott.

  2. To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive of. [Obs.]

    Edmond [was a] good man and doubted God.
    --R. of Gloucester.

    I doubt some foul play.
    --Shak.

    That I of doubted danger had no fear.
    --Spenser.

  3. To fill with fear; to affright. [Obs.]

    The virtues of the valiant Caratach More doubt me than all Britain.
    --Beau. & Fl.

Doubt

Doubt \Doubt\, n. [OE. dute, doute, F. doute, fr. douter to doubt. See Doubt, v. i.]

  1. A fluctuation of mind arising from defect of knowledge or evidence; uncertainty of judgment or mind; unsettled state of opinion concerning the reality of an event, or the truth of an assertion, etc.; hesitation.

    Doubt is the beginning and the end of our efforts to know.
    --Sir W. Hamilton.

    Doubt, in order to be operative in requiring an acquittal, is not the want of perfect certainty (which can never exist in any question of fact) but a defect of proof preventing a reasonable assurance of quilt.
    --Wharton.

  2. Uncertainty of condition.

    Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee.
    --Deut. xxviii. 66.

  3. Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread. [Obs.]

    I stand in doubt of you.
    --Gal. iv. 20.

    Nor slack her threatful hand for danger's doubt.
    --Spenser.

  4. Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point unsettled; objection.

    To every doubt your answer is the same.
    --Blackmore.

    No doubt, undoubtedly; without doubt.

    Out of doubt, beyond doubt. [Obs.]
    --Spenser.

    Syn: Uncertainty; hesitation; suspense; indecision; irresolution; distrust; suspicion; scruple; perplexity; ambiguity; skepticism.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
doubt

early 13c., "to dread, fear," from Old French doter "doubt, be doubtful; be afraid," from Latin dubitare "to doubt, question, hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain;" see dubious), originally "to have to choose between two things."\n

\nThe sense of "fear" developed in Old French and was passed on to English. Meaning "to be uncertain" is attested in English from c.1300. The -b- was restored 14c. by scribes in imitation of Latin. Replaced Old English tweogan (noun twynung), from tweon "two," on notion of "of two minds" or the choice of two implied in Latin dubitare (compare German Zweifel "doubt," from zwei "two").

doubt

early 13c., from Old French dote (11c.) "fear, dread; doubt," from doter (see doubt (v.)).

Wiktionary
doubt

n. uncertainty, disbelief. vb. 1 (context ambitransitive English) To lack confidence in; to disbelieve, question, or suspect. 2 (context archaic English) To fear; to suspect. 3 (context obsolete English) To fear; to be apprehensive of. 4 (context obsolete English) To fill with fear; to affright.

Related phrases:
WordNet
doubt

  1. n. the state of being unsure of something [syn: uncertainty, incertitude, dubiety, doubtfulness, dubiousness] [ant: certainty]

  2. uncertainty about the truth or factuality of existence of something; "the dubiousness of his claim"; "there is no question about the validity of the enterprise" [syn: dubiousness, doubtfulness, question]

  3. v. consider unlikely or have doubts about; "I doubt that she will accept his proposal of marriage"

  4. lack confidence in or have doubts about; "I doubt these reports"; "I suspect her true motives"; "she distrusts her stepmother"

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Doubt

Doubt characterises a status in which the mind remains suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. Doubt involves uncertainty, distrust or lack of sureness of an alleged fact, an action, a motive, or a decision. Doubt questions a notion of a perceived " reality", and may involve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concerns for mistakes or faults or appropriateness. (compare paradox).

Doubt (2003 film)

Doubt is a 2003 Philippine film about fidelity and deception in a gay relationship. Cris, a young director, meets Erick and developed a relationship with him. After being together for several months, their relationship began to fall apart and is complicated by people involved in their lives.

Doubt (album)

Doubt was the second album by the British band Jesus Jones, released in 1991. The album reached #25 in the US and topped the UK chart, and " Real Real Real", " Right Here, Right Now", " International Bright Young Thing", "Who? Where? Why?" and "Welcome Back Victoria" were released as singles to promote it.

According to the album booklet, Doubt was recorded in seven days in May 1990, but "the mixing took a bit longer". While the album had been finished in the spring of 1990, its release was delayed until the beginning of 1991 by the band's label Food Records.

There is a message in the booklet which warns people of "possible damage to musical equipment". It reads:

This message is believed to refer to the song "Stripped", which was not played live until their performance at the Woolley Festival in their native Bradford-on-Avon in 2014 because, as he stated on stage at the time, it was "unlistenable". The booklet also gives small descriptions to the songs. For example, "I'm Burning" is subtitled "A re-occurrence of the B-side that was too good syndrome". The booklet also claims Doubt to be inspired by both legal and pirate radio stations in London.

Jesus Jones have said the songs on the album are primarily about hope, optimism, and enjoying everything around you.

Doubt (2008 film)

Doubt is a 2008 American drama film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize winning fictive stage play Doubt: A Parable. Written and directed by Shanley and produced by Scott Rudin, the film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. It premiered October 30, 2008 at the AFI Fest before being distributed by Miramax Films in limited release on December 12 and in wide release on December 25.

The film's four main actors were heavily praised for their acting, and all of them were nominated for Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards.

Doubt (disambiguation)

Doubt is a mental state.

Doubt may also refer to:

  • Doubt (play), by John Patrick Shanley
  • Doubt (2008 film), adapted from the Shanley play
  • Doubt (2003 film) (Duda), Philippine release in the Tagalog language
  • Doubt (album), released in 1991 by British rock band Jesus Jones
  • "Doubt" (song), released in 2010 by British alternative dance band Delphic
  • Doubt!!, manga series published by Kaneyoshi Izumi
  • Doubt (manga), published by Yoshiki Tonogai
  • ''Doubt" (magazine), published by the Fortean Society
  • "Doubt" (2017 Television Series) starring Katherine Heigl and Laverne Cox
Doubt (horror manga)

, also known as , is a shōnen horror manga written and illustrated by Yoshiki Tonogai. The series focuses on the "Rabbit Doubt" cell phone game, with rules similar to Mafia. The players must find the wolf, or killer, amongst their group of rabbits as they are picked off one-by-one. Six players of this game find themselves trapped in a building with one of the group already dead; to avoid the same fate, the remaining five must play a real-life game of "Rabbit Doubt" and find the wolf (liar)hiding among them.

The manga was first serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan on July 12, 2007 and ended its run on February 12, 2009. Square Enix also released the first volume on December 22, 2007 and released the fourth and final volume on February 12, 2009. The series has continued with a sequel, titled .

Doubt (song)

"Doubt" is the second single from alternative dance band, Delphic to be released from their debut album Acolyte. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2010, where it debuted at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart.

Doubt (Mary J. Blige song)

"Doubt" is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige along with English musician Sam Romans for her thirteenth studio album The London Sessions (2014), while production was helmed by Romans and American record producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Released as the album's fourth single, the ballad has since reached the top ten on Billboards Adult R&B Songs chart.

Doubt (TV series)

Doubt is an upcoming American television drama series created by Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, and stars Katherine Heigl and Steven Pasquale in the lead roles. The series, set to air on CBS during the 2016-2017 television season, was ordered to series on May 14, 2016.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "doubt".

No one could doubt that Philip Augustus would abet his vassal, the Countess of Poitou, in dispositions so well calculated to thwart the Angevin.

Moreover, thou sayest it that the champions of the Dry Tree, who would think but little of an earl for a leader, are eager to follow me: and if thou still doubt what this may mean, abide, till in two days or three thou see me before the foeman.

For a long time the abnormality was not believed to exist, and some of the observers denied the proof by postmortem examination of any of the cases so diagnosed, but there is at present no doubt of the fact,--three, four, and five testicles having been found at autopsies.

In some cases, I do not doubt that the intercrossing of species, aboriginally distinct, has played an important part in the origin of our domestic productions.

Start with general doubt, says Augustine, and doubt absolutely everything you can.

I have no doubt that this was due to the prolonged irritation of the glands, as the starch continued to absorb the secretion.

These cases of the simultaneous darkening or blackening of the glands from the action of weak solutions are important, as they show that all the glands absorbed the carbonate within the same time, which fact indeed there was not the least reason to doubt.

But there can be no doubt that the Wests made sure she could neither move nor cry out when they abused her.

In spite of what Frederick West may or may not have told his father-in-law about his dislike for the abuse of his daughter Anna-Marie, there is no doubt that both he and his wife independently sexually abused the twelve-year-old.

But Conan doubted, for once, in a gold-barred cage in an Hyrkanian city, he had seen an abysmal sad-eyed beast which men told him was an ape, and there had been about it naught of the demoniac malevolence which vibrated in the shrieking laughter that echoed from the black jungle.

Sir John Fenwick, Smith, and Cook, to say nothing of the corroborative evidence of Goodman, establish beyond doubt that you were accessorily, though perhaps not actively, guilty of high treason--at this period, I say, there can be little doubt that if you were brought to trial--that is, in the course of next week, as I have heard it rumoured--the result would be fatal, such, in short, as we should all deplore.

We entertained no doubt that everything had been arranged by Heaven to get us acquainted, and to fire us both, even unknown to ourselves, with love for each other.

Still an actress, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, pretending to weep, and assuring me that I was not to doubt the truth of what she said.

No doubt the eternally self-identical may have potentiality and be self-led to self-realization, but even in this case the being considered as actualized is of higher order than the being considered as merely capable of actualization and moving towards a desired Term.

I had ever heard, yet I did not doubt that his addled sermonette was an incarnation of that very lecture.