All 5 Uses of
speculate
in
The History of Love
- "Moritz," wrote Levy, "whose debut novel was emboldened by his eschatological speculations, has here shifted his focus to pure scatology."
speculations = thoughts or theories
- Once he got on the boat, other things jostled for his attention: bouts of seasickness, his fear of dark water, meditations on the horizon, speculations about life on the ocean floor, attacks of nostalgia, the sighting of a whale, the sighting of a pretty French brunette.
speculations = thoughts
- This is because they argue about what it means to be among the Living, and because they don't know they can only speculate,
*speculate = guess or theorize
- This is because they argue about what it means to be among the Living, and because they don't know they can only speculate, much the way the Living speculate about the nature (or lack thereof)--here the kettle began to scream--of God.
speculate = guess
- "Well do you think there's a chance he deserves the Nobel?"
"No."
"How do you know if you haven't read any of his books?"
"I'm speculating," she said, because she would never admit that she only awards Nobels to dead people.speculating = guessing
Definitions:
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(1)
(speculate as in: don't know, but I'll speculate) to think about, wonder, guess or theorize with much uncertainty
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(2)
(speculate as in: speculate in the stock market) to take a risk for profit--typically a risky investment
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Much more rarely, speculation can refer to a gambling card game that was popular in the past.