Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To express or state indirectly.
  • transitive verb To make evident indirectly: synonym: suggest.
  • transitive verb To involve by logical necessity; entail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To infold; inclose; inwrap.
  • To contain by implication; include virtually; involve; signify or import by fair inference or deduction; hence, to express indirectly; insinuate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To infold or involve; to wrap up.
  • transitive verb To involve in substance or essence, or by fair inference, or by construction of law, when not include virtually.
  • transitive verb obsolete To refer, ascribe, or attribute.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb archaic to enfold, entangle.
  • verb transitive to have as a necessary consequence
  • verb transitive, of a person to suggest by logical inference
  • verb transitive to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb suggest that someone is guilty
  • verb have as a necessary feature
  • verb express or state indirectly
  • verb suggest as a logically necessary consequence; in logic
  • verb have as a logical consequence

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English implien, from Old French emplier, to enfold, from Latin implicāre; see implicate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French emplier, from Latin implicare ("to infold, involve"), from in ("in") + plicare ("to fold")

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Examples

  • “Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?”

    Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages Diane Duane with Peter Morwood 2000

  • "Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?"

    My Enemy My Ally Diane Duane 2000

  • “Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?”

    Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages Diane Duane with Peter Morwood 2000

  • "Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?"

    My Enemy My Ally Diane Duane 2000

  • “Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?”

    Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages Diane Duane with Peter Morwood 2000

  • "Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?"

    My Enemy My Ally Diane Duane 2000

  • By the way - the numvber two rule is that ever4y poster will post the exact opposite of what their name imply e.g.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

  • Does the "Chapter 1" part of the title imply that there will be a Chapter 2?

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2009

  • As the two parts of the title imply, it contrasts the recent Axelrodian hagiography of Obama as the biracial transcender with the man's own evasively written but ultimately quite clear autobiography.

    Steve Sailer's iSteve Blog 2008

  • As the two parts of the title imply, it contrasts the recent Axelrodian hagiography of Obama as the biracial transcender with the man's own evasively written but ultimately quite clear autobiography.

    unknown title 2008

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