Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - idea

(ideas) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. An idea is a plan, suggestion, or possible course of action. It’s a good idea to plan ahead... I really like the idea of helping people... She told me she’d had a brilliant idea. N-COUNT: oft adj N, N to-inf, N of n/-ing 2. An idea is an opinion or belief about what something is like or should be like. Some of his ideas about democracy are entirely his own. ...the idea that reading too many books ruins your eyes... = notion N-COUNT: usu N about/on/of n, N that 3. If someone gives you an idea of something, they give you information about it without being very exact or giving a lot of detail. This table will give you some idea of how levels of ability can be measured... If you cannot remember the exact date give a rough idea of when it was. N-SING: N of n/wh 4. If you have an idea of something, you know about it to some extent. No one has any real idea how much the company will make next year. N-SING: with supp 5. If you have an idea that something is the case, you think that it may be the case, although you are not certain. I had an idea that he joined the army later, but I may be wrong. N-SING: N that c darkgreen]vagueness 6. The idea of an action or activity is its aim or purpose. The idea is to encourage people to get to know their neighbours. = objective N-SING: the N 7. If you have the idea of doing something, you intend to do it. He sent for a number of books he admired with the idea of re-reading them... = intention N-COUNT: N of -ing/n 8. You can use idea in expressions such as I’ve no idea or I haven’t the faintest idea to emphasize that you do not know something. ‘Is she coming by coach?’—‘Well I’ve no idea.’ = notion N-SING: with brd-neg c darkgreen]emphasis 9. If someone gets the idea, they understand how to do something or they understand what you are telling them. (INFORMAL) It isn’t too difficult once you get the idea... PHRASE: V inflects