English▸ noun
1 a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action:
the idea of linking pay to performance has caught on
it's a good idea to do some research before you go.
▪ a concept or mental impression:
our menu list will give you some idea of how interesting a low-fat diet can be.
▪ an opinion or belief:
nineteenth-century ideas about drinking.
– PHRASES
get ideas informal
become ambitious, conceited, or tempted to do something unwise:
make someone ambitious, conceited, or tempted to do something unwise:
not know at all:
not what someone regards as a typical or adequate example of:
cause someone to start thinking about something, typically something regarded as unwise:
that suggestion or proposal is worth considering.that's the idea informal
used to confirm to someone that they have understood something or they are doing something correctly:
an exclamation of disapproval or disagreement.
get ideas informal
become ambitious, conceited, or tempted to do something unwise:
Mac began to get ideas about turning pro.
give someone ideas informal make someone ambitious, conceited, or tempted to do something unwise:
don't go giving them any ideas.
have no idea (also have got no idea) informal not know at all:
she had no idea where she was going.
not someone's idea of informal not what someone regards as a typical or adequate example of:
it's not my idea of a happy ending.
put ideas into someone's head cause someone to start thinking about something, typically something regarded as unwise:
his warnings against wrongdoing put ideas into her head.
that's an idea informal that suggestion or proposal is worth considering.that's the idea informal
used to confirm to someone that they have understood something or they are doing something correctly:
“A sort of bodyguard?” “That's the idea.”.
the very idea! informal an exclamation of disapproval or disagreement.
– ORIGIN late Middle English (in idea (SENSE 3)): via Latin from Greek idea ‘form, pattern’, from the base of idein ‘to see’.