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Definition of assumption noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

      

    assumption

     noun
    noun
    NAmE//əˈsʌmpʃn//
     
     
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  1. 1[countable] a belief or feeling that something is true or that something will happen, although there is no proof an underlying/implicit assumption We need to challenge some of the basic assumptions of Western philosophy. We are working on the assumption that everyone invited will show up. It was impossible to make assumptions about people's reactions. His actions were based on a false assumption. She arrived at college with a whole set of assumptions inherited from her family. AWL Collocationsassumeassume verb
    • commonly, generally
    • erroneously, incorrectly, mistakenly
    • safely
    • implicitly, tacitly
    Contrary to what is generally assumed by theoretical models, our results demonstrate that… We can safely assume that emissions from developing countries will keep rising as economic activity grows. This approach implicitly assumes that medication use is constant during the assessment period.
    • be reasonable to, be safe to
    • be unreasonable to
    It is reasonable to assume that those with a continuous work history should have a higher commitment to the labor market. On the basis of available evidence, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Chinese writing began in the seventeenth century B.C.assumption noun
    • implicit, underlying
    • valid
    This implicit assumption is rarely tested. There seem to be some underlying assumptions, but there does not seem to be any evidence.
    • reexamine, test
    • satisfy, validate
    • challenge, question
    • contradict, violate
    The first experiment was designed to test the assumptions of these hypotheses. Our findings challenge an important assumption shared by all of the theories we have examined.
  2. 2[countable, uncountable] assumption of something (formal) the act of taking or beginning to have power or responsibility their assumption of power/control the assumption of responsibility by the government for the disaster
See assumption in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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