英语词汇“speculate”的英英意思、用法、释义、翻译、读音、例句、短语、词组-英语词典

WORD ORIGINspeculate

Origin:

1500-1600 Latin past participle of speculari ‘to watch (secretly)’, from specere ‘to look (at)’

VERB TABLE

speculate

Simple Form
Present	I, you, we, they	speculate
	he, she, it	speculates
Past	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	speculated
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have speculated
	he, she, it	has speculated
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had speculated
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will speculate
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have speculated

Continuous Form
Present	I	am speculating
	he, she, it	is speculating
	you, we, they	are speculating
Past	I, he, she, it	was speculating
	you, we, they	were speculating
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have been speculating
	he, she, it	has been speculating
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had been speculating
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will be speculating
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have been speculating

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES

Edward began to speculate on what life would be like if he were single again.
Her father made his money speculating on the New York Stock Exchange.
People have been speculating about interstellar flight for years.
Terry speculated heavily in mining shares and lost a lot of money.
We don't know why the prehistoric stone circles were built. We can only speculate.

EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS

Builders and developers themselves may also speculate in land in this way.
Edouard, who had had plenty of time to speculate, was still surprised by her arrival.
He speculated that the people down south in San Diego just don't know who Bob Farner is.
Party insiders had speculated about competition between Symington and Woods to lead the delegation.
Wall Street had speculated earlier this week that Kodak would unload the unprofitable unit.

Longman Language Activatorto guess something► guess

to give an answer or decide that something is probably true, when you do not know enough to be definitely sure: · Are you sure Linda's pregnant, or are you just guessing?· I'm only guessing, but I should think their house is worth over a million.· I didn't know all the answers so I just had to guess some of them.guess who/what/how etc: · Guess who I saw in town yesterday.· Guess how much I paid for this watch!guess at: · We can only guess at the cause of the crash.guess (that): · Sally guessed that he had been drinking for most of the afternoon.· Detectives guess the attacker must be aged from 25 - 30.

► make a guess

to guess something, especially when you are trying to answer a question or explain how something might have happened: · I've no idea where I lost the keys. I couldn't even make a guess.make a guess at/about/as to: · It's possible to make a guess at who the woman in the story might be.

► have a guess

British /take a guess especially American to guess an answer, amount, or number - use this especially when you are telling someone to do this: · "How much rent do you pay for your apartment?" "Take a guess."have a guess at: · Have a guess at the answer, then check it with your calculator.

► estimate

to say how much something will cost, how many of something there are etc, partly by calculating and partly by guessing: estimate (that): · Police estimate that over 10,000 people took part in the demonstration.estimate something at $350/£400 etc: · His personal fortune is estimated at £150 million.· The mechanic estimated the cost of repairs at $350.estimate how much/how many etc: · Can you estimate how much fabric you will need for the curtains?

► put something at

: put the cost/the value/somebody's age etc at something to guess that the cost, value etc is a particular amount without trying to be very exact: · I'd put her age at around 35.· The cost of the war was put at more than $10 billion.

► speculate

to think about or discuss something in order to guess what its causes or results might be: · We don't know why the prehistoric stone circles were built. We can only speculate.speculate about/on/as to: · Edward began to speculate on what life would be like if he were single again.· People have been speculating about interstellar flight for years.

to risk losing something► risk

to risk losing something, especially in order to gain something else: · Companies cannot risk losing customers through computer problems.· The university has already cut its budget as much as possible without risking its quality and reputation.risk something on something: · You'd have to be crazy to risk your money on an investment like that.

► gamble/take a gamble

to do something even though there is a risk of failure or loss, because you will gain a lot if it is successful: · They seem to be gambling the whole future of the compamy in return for a quick short-term profit.· If we gamble and succeed, no one will mind. But if we gamble and fail, we'll probably lose our jobs.· In 1972, NBC took a gamble and created a show featuring Redd Foxx, a black comic whose stage routines were somewhat off-color.gamble/take a gamble that: · During the drought, water companies used water from the emergency reservoirs, gambling that normal rainfall would soon fill them up again.gamble/take a gamble on: · The team took a gamble on Whitney, who is fast and an accurate player, but only five-foot-nine.

► put something on the line

if you put your job, career, reputation etc on the line, you risk losing your job, reputation etc if something is not successful or if you make the wrong decision: · Whatever type of company you have, you put your reputation on the line when you handle complaint calls.· Many workers feel they may be putting their jobs on the line if they protest about safety abuses.

► stake something on

to risk losing something important if the result of a plan or action is not successful: · Lincoln staked his political career on opposition to slavery.· She had staked her academic reputation on the accuracy of her research.

► speculate

to buy a large amount of shares, land, or foreign money because you hope to make a big profit when you sell it, even though you risk losing your money: · Her father made his money speculating on the New York Stock Exchange.speculate in shares/land etc: · Terry speculated heavily in mining shares and lost a lot of money.

WORD SETS► Basics

admin, nounadministration, nounadministrative, adjectiveadministrator, nounagency, nounagent, nounbalance sheet, nounbazaar, nounbid, nounbid, verbbig business, nounbook value, nounboss, nounbottom line, nounbranch, nouncapacity, nouncapital, nouncapital assets, nouncapital gains, nouncapital goods, nouncapital-intensive, adjectivecapitalist, nouncard, nouncentralize, verbcompetitiveness, nounconsultancy, nouncontract, nouncontract, verbcost-effective, adjectivecoupon, nouncritical path, noundecentralize, verbdeveloper, noundistiller, noundistributor, noundiversify, verbdownsize, verbeconomics, nounenterprise, nounentrepreneur, nounestablishment, nounfashion, nounfly-by-night, adjectivefold, verbfoodstuff, nounform letter, nounfranchise, verbfranchisee, noungazump, verbgearing, noungeneric, adjectiveget, verbhard sell, nounhaute couture, nounhigh season, nounhigh technology, nounhike, nounhike, verbloss, nounlow-tech, adjectivemaximize, verbMD, nounmerchandise, verbmerchandising, nounmerger, nounmiddleman, nounmiller, nounmission statement, nounmom-and-pop, adjectivemoneygrabbing, adjectivemoneymaker, noun-monger, suffixmonopolistic, adjectivemonopoly, nounnet, adjectivenet, verbniche, nounoff-the-peg, adjectiveopening time, nounoperation, nounoperational, adjectiveoperator, nounoption, nounoutlay, nounoutlet, nounoutput, nounoutwork, nounoverhead, nounoverstock, verbpackage, nounpartner, nounpartnership, nounpatent, nounpayola, nounpercentage, nounpiracy, nounpremium, nounprivate practice, nounprivatization, nounprivatize, verbprofitability, nounproprietor, nounproprietress, nounpurchase price, nounpurchasing power, nounquiet, adjectiveR & D, nounrate of return, nounrecall, verbreject, nounrep, nounresearch and development, nounrestrictive practices, nounrevenue, nounsell, verbservice industry, nounsleeping partner, nounspeculate, verbspeculation, nounspeculative, adjectivestreet value, nounsubtotal, nounswap meet, nounsweatshop, nounsyndicate, nounsystems analyst, nountake, nountender, nountie-up, nounTM, transact, verbtransaction, nounturnover, nounundersell, verbuneconomic, adjectiveunit, noununprofitable, adjectivevideo conferencing, nounwatchdog, nounwheeler-dealer, nounwheeling and dealing, noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► about

· This is not the place to speculate about possible alternatives.· We speculated about what kind of a father would heap that kind of pressure on the shoulders of his son.· I can speculate about how I know about reality, but no bracketing of current empirical certainties is required.· To keep that focus, Finch has refused to speculate about what happened to Earhart.· One can only speculate about how a genuinely independent and effective complaints authority would be received.· We laughed about it awhile and speculated about what it would have been like.· The rates are highest in the industrialized world, for reasons that we can only speculate about.· Conspiracy buffs are having a field day speculating about White House motives.

► as

· Maclean had no locus standi for this lightning intervention, and one can only speculate as to his reasons for it.· We speculate as to what will happen to the characters in later years.

► how

· However, we might pause to speculate how the above formulation of the Keynesian labour supply function came about.· Of course, there have been many who have speculated how Martin Luther King would think were he alive today.· I have sometimes whiled away idle moments in speculating how far one could elaborate this figure before the reader became suspicious.· We might like to speculate how Jefferson or Tocqueville, Orwell or Bonhoeffer might respond to these extraordinary words.

► on

· We can only speculate on whether this is another example of the pervasive influence of psychoanalytic thinking in our culture.· Police would not speculate on a motive, except to say that Avanesian had a long-running dispute with his wife.· I couldn't go on speculating on the might have-beens of Stavanger's life, for there was work to do.· But he also speculated on much wider issues.· The second question is easier to speculate on than the first.· Encourage them to speculate on why some students heard the sound before others. 2.· Love would not speculate on why the numbers have decreased.

► only

· I was only speculating before.-but this is a serious possibility, yes?· Again, I can only speculate.· I can only speculate about the reasons for their success.· You can only speculate at how Phoenix featherweight Louie Espinoza would have fared in the bout.· We can only speculate on whether this is another example of the pervasive influence of psychoanalytic thinking in our culture.· One can only speculate, and surely there's a more constructive way to spend one's time?· Maclean had no locus standi for this lightning intervention, and one can only speculate as to his reasons for it.· One can only speculate what magical chess we would have seen in matches with Karpov and Kasparov.

► why

· We can only speculate why such a large number of young children experiences chronic constipation.

NOUN► analyst

· Wall Street analysts earlier this week speculated that Kodak would unload the unprofitable unit.· Some analysts speculated that this factor could add around 75, 000 jobs to the seasonally adjusted figure the department reports tomorrow.

► people

· This is likely if people start speculating that prices will rise further.· Usually when you wonder what makes people tick you speculate about such things as their motives, attitudes and feelings.· At another table, people were speculating about her.· There is still much speculation as to what happened but at least nowadays people can speculate out loud.

► possibility

· He packed his writing tray away whilst speculating on other possibilities.· Mrs Saulitis, in spite of her love for the sergeant, had speculated about romantic possibilities with Captain Vilcins.· Goldin has previously speculated about the possibility of interstellar flight using extremely small, low-mass probes.

► reason

· I can only speculate about the reasons for their success.· He had speculated, with good reason, on the rapid rise of the shares.· Maclean had no locus standi for this lightning intervention, and one can only speculate as to his reasons for it.· They further speculate about the reasons for which the soul entered the body and its relationship to the universe.· The group fragmented and re-formed in twos and threes, speculating on possible reasons for Gebrec's disappearance.· Many of us speculated as to his reasons.· It is interesting to speculate on the possible reasons for his total obscurity during the intervening years of the Restoration.

VERB► begin

· It was the Princesse's evident flush which made Katherine begin to speculate.· On page seventy, Lal had begun to speculate on organisms possibly capable of adapting themselves in ex-posed lunar conditions.· Left alone, we began to speculate about where we were and why, and where we would ultimately be taken.· As the fumes cleared from his brain he began to speculate seriously as to how the iconograph worked.

► decline

· Nellis and Weir declined to speculate about military applications.

► lead

· Its extreme isolation has led some researchers to speculate that it contains life forms unknown to science.

► refuse

· Horton refused to speculate, and so his dancers were forced to follow their own hunches in interpreting the characters.· To keep that focus, Finch has refused to speculate about what happened to Earhart.· Keyes refused to speculate on either the provocations or the order of the deaths.