Both Uses of
presume
in
War and Peace
- The Rostovs supposed that The Russian Guards, Abroad, was quite a definite address, and that if a letter reached the Grand Duke in command of the Guards there was no reason why it should not reach the Pavlograd regiment, which was presumably somewhere in the same neighborhood.†
Chpt 3 (definition 1) *
- While Prince Andrew went to report about the purple-faced general, that gentleman—evidently not sharing Boris' conception of the advantages of the unwritten code of subordination—looked so fixedly at the presumptuous lieutenant who had prevented his finishing what he had to say to the adjutant that Boris felt uncomfortable.†
Chpt 3 (definition 2) *
Definitions:
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(1) (presume as in: presumption of innocence) to think of something as true or likely, even though it is not known with certaintyeditor's notes: Something can be presumed because it seems reasonable or because there is a rule or law demanding such an assumption. For example, in the United States someone charged with a crime is presumed by law to be innocent unless they are proven guilty at a trial.
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(2) (presumptuous as in: she is presumptuous) exercising privileges to which one is not entitled -- such as being too familiar or too bossy