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assume Go assume AC /əˈsjuːm $ əˈsuːm/ verb

1. to think that something is true, although you do not have definite proof

assume verb
ADVERBS
assumption noun
asylum noun automatically assume (=without thinking carefully) I automatically assumed she would be like
atmosphere noun her sister, but she was not.
attack1 noun naturally assume As the boy looked about ten, I naturally assumed that he should be in school.
attack2 verb generally/usually/commonly assume People generally assume that I will not want to work full-
attain verb time after the baby is born.
attempt noun
mistakenly/wrongly assume They wrongly assumed that he wouldn’t ask them for money.
attendance noun
implicitly assume formal If we talk about the cause of the Big Bang, we implicitly assume that time
attention noun
existed before the universe began.
attitude noun
attraction noun
PHRASES
attractive adjective
audience noun it seems reasonable to assume/we can reasonably assume It seems reasonable to assume
authentic adjective that the two events are connected. | Prices will vary, but you can reasonably assume it will cost
author noun around £15.
authoritarian adjective it is safe to assume/you can safely assume (=be almost certain) I think it is safe to assume that
authority noun they won’t come back. | I think we can safely assume that interest rates will go up again soon.
authorization noun
it is widely assumed (=by many people) It was widely assumed that the bomb was planted by al-
Qaeda.
Other words and phrases let us assume Let us assume for a moment that the average temperature will rise by 5 degrees.
it is wrong/a mistake to assume It is a mistake to assume that sleep is a time when the brain is
assume verb not active.
people tend to assume Men tend to assume that the woman should do all the housework.
make the mistake of assuming (that)... Don’t make the mistake of assuming that other people
have the same opinions as you.
assume the worst (=think that the worst possible thing has happened) When it got to midnight
and Paul was still not back, I began to assume the worst.

2. to start to have a particular responsibility or job

NOUNS

assume power The new president assumed power in 2008.

assume control/command/leadership He assumed control of the family business after his
father’s death.
assume responsibility for sth It was expected that she would assume responsibility for bringing
up the children.
assume a post/position/duties She is preparing to assume a new post as a dean at Yale
University.
assume office He assumed office in January (=started an important job as leader or in the
government).
assume the role Jim Paton will assume the role of managing director.
assume the presidency/chairmanship On July 1st, he will assume the presidency of the EU.
assume the throne (=become king or queen) Queen Victoria assumed the throne in 1837.
assume the mantle of sb (=take over a job or responsibility) Robinson assumed the mantle of
presiding judge after May’s death.

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