What's the difference between believe and imagine?

Believe


Definition:

  • (n.) To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine.
  • (v. i.) To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith.
  • (v. i.) To think; to suppose.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
  • (2) It has been generally believed that the ligand-binding of steroid hormone receptors triggers an allosteric change in receptor structure, manifested by an increased affinity of the receptor for DNA in vitro and nuclear target elements in vivo, as monitored by nuclear translocation.
  • (3) The sound of the ambulance frightened us, especially us children, and panic gripped the entire community: people believe that whoever is taken into the ambulance to the hospital will die – you so often don’t see them again.
  • (4) 8.47pm: Cameron says he believes Britain's best days lie ahead and that he believes in public service.
  • (5) Ryzhkov added: "I believe they want to keep him in prison for another three or four years at least, so he is not released until well after the next presidential elections in 2012."
  • (6) Of the 622 people interviewed, a large proportion (30.5%) believed that the first deciduous tooth should erupt between the age of 5-7 months; the next commonly mentioned time of tooth eruption was 7-9 months of age; and 50.3% of the respondents claimed to have seen a case of prematurely erupted primary teeth.
  • (7) Parents believed they should try to normalize their child's experiences, that interactions with health care professionals required negotiation and assertiveness, and that they needed some support person(s) outside of the family.
  • (8) The so-called literati aren't insular – this from a woman who ran the security service – but we aren't going to apologise for what we believe in either.
  • (9) They were protecting the sit-in because they believed that, if they left, the police would follow them."
  • (10) Batson believes there is a “mood” that needs to be seized upon.
  • (11) There are widespread examples across the US of the police routinely neglecting crimes of sexual violence and refusing to believe victims.
  • (12) United believe it is more likely the right-back can be bought in the summer but are exploring what would represent the considerable coup of acquiring the 26-year-old immediately.
  • (13) Does anybody honestly believe the vast majority of migrants don’t want that too?
  • (14) Although, it did give me the confidence to believe that my voice was valid and important.
  • (15) That is, he believes, to look at massively difficult, interlocking problems through too narrow a lens.
  • (16) However the imagery is more complex, because scholars believe it also relates to another cherished pre-Raphaelite Arthurian legend, Sir Degrevaunt who married his mortal enemy's daughter.
  • (17) After examining the cases reported in literature (Sacks, Barabas, Beighton Sykes), they point out that, contrary to what is generally believed, the syndrome is not rare and cases, sporadic or familial, of recurrent episodes of spontaneous rupture of the intestine and large vessels or peripheral arteries are frequent.
  • (18) Gordon Brown believes that the fact of the G20 summit has persuaded many tax havens, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to indicate that they will adopt a more open approach.
  • (19) I believe that truth sets man free.” It was a curious stance for someone who spent many years undercover as a counter-espionage informant, a government propagandist, and unofficial asset of the Central Intelligence Agency.
  • (20) Whenever you are ill and a medicine is prescribed for you and you take the medicine until balance is achieved in you and then you put that medicine down.” Farrakhan does not dismiss the doctrine of the past, but believes it is no longer appropriate for the present.

Imagine


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To form in the mind a notion or idea of; to form a mental image of; to conceive; to produce by the imagination.
  • (v. t.) To contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise; to compass; to purpose. See Compass, v. t., 5.
  • (v. t.) To represent to one's self; to think; to believe.
  • (v. i.) To form images or conceptions; to conceive; to devise.
  • (v. i.) To think; to suppose.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 4) Parents imagined that fruit drinks, carbonated beverages and beverages with lactic acid promoted tooth decay.
  • (2) It was an artwork that fired the imaginations of 2 million visitors who played with, were provoked by and plunged themselves into the curious atmosphere of The Weather Project , with its swirling mist and gigantic mirrors that covered the hall's ceiling.
  • (3) He's called out for his lack of imagination in a stinging review by a leading food critic (Oliver Platt) and - after being introduced to Twitter by his tech-savvy son (Emjay Anthony) - accidentally starts a flame war that will lead to him losing his job.
  • (4) Not long ago the comeback would have been impossible to imagine.
  • (5) New developments in data storage and retrieval forecast applications that could not have been imagined even a year or two ago.
  • (6) This may have been a pointed substitute programme, management perhaps imagining a future where electronic presenters will simply download their minds to MP3-players.
  • (7) Imagining faces was also the only condition that led to an increase of activity in the left inferior occipital region which has been suggested by previous studies as being a crucial area for visual imagery.
  • (8) "It is difficult to imagine the torment experienced by the vulnerable victims of crimes such as these.
  • (9) "The role of leader is one of the greatest honours imaginable – but it is not a bauble to aspire for.
  • (10) I personally felt grateful that British TV set itself apart from its international rivals in this way, not afraid to challenge, to stretch the mind and imagination.
  • (11) In 2009, he allowed Imagine to be played on the cathedral bells.
  • (12) America's same-sex couples, and the politicians who have barred gay marriage in 30 states, are looking to the supreme court to hand down a definitive judgment on where the constitution stands on an issue its framers are unlikely to have imagined would ever be considered.
  • (13) We need not strain our powers of prediction to imagine how the Conservatives and much of the media would react.
  • (14) I still can’t figure out who this is aimed at: I’m imagining characters who think they’re in Wolf of Wall Street, with such an inflated sense of entitlement that even al desko meals need to come with Michelin tags.
  • (15) Imagine a Swansea player plays against Chelsea on Saturday and then goes to Manchester City, then he plays against Chelsea again the next week.
  • (16) I am acutely aware that not all of you, by any stretch of the imagination, will approve of everything I have done.
  • (17) The Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane, who clearly had the more imaginative father of the three, was drafted 18th; he'll be playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
  • (18) There is never any chink in her composure – any hint of tension – and while I can't imagine what it must feel like to be so at ease with one's world, I don't think she is faking it.
  • (19) After all those years imagining what he would look like; first his hair, then his forehead and then those blue, blue eyes gradually revealed themselves.
  • (20) Our older population is the most impressive, self-sacrificing and imaginative part of our entire community.