speculate

Definitions

1. 1intransitive verb

   To consider by turning a subject in the mind, and viewing it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in religion; to speculate on political events.

2. 2intransitive verb

   To view subjects from certain premises given or assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.

3. 3intransitive verb

   To purchase with the expectation of a contingent advance in value, and a consequent sale at a profit; -- often, in a somewhat depreciative sense, of unsound or hazardous transactions; as, to speculate in coffee, in sugar, or in bank stock.

4. 4transitive verb

   To consider attentively; as, to speculate the nature of a thing.

5. 5verb

   reflect deeply on a subject

   "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"

   "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"

   Synonyms

   contemplateexcogitatemeditatemullmuseponderreflectruminate
6. 6verb

   to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

   "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps"

   Synonyms

   conjecturehypothecatehypothesisehypothesizesupposetheorisetheorize
7. 7verb

   talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion

   "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal"

8. 8verb

   invest at a risk

   "I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating"

   Synonyms

   job