What's the difference between doubt and speculation?

Doubt


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To waver in opinion or judgment; to be in uncertainty as to belief respecting anything; to hesitate in belief; to be undecided as to the truth of the negative or the affirmative proposition; to b e undetermined.
  • (v. i.) To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive.
  • (v. t.) To question or hold questionable; to withhold assent to; to hesitate to believe, or to be inclined not to believe; to withhold confidence from; to distrust; as, I have heard the story, but I doubt the truth of it.
  • (v. t.) To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive of.
  • (v. t.) To fill with fear; to affright.
  • (v. i.) A fluctuation of mind arising from defect of knowledge or evidence; uncertainty of judgment or mind; unsettled state of opinion concerning the reality of an event, or the truth of an assertion, etc.; hesitation.
  • (v. i.) Uncertainty of condition.
  • (v. i.) Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread.
  • (v. i.) Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point unsettled; objection.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In a further study 1082 patients with a negative or doubtful result of the physical examination were investigated using ultrasound.
  • (2) p-Chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) also reduced the response to levodopa but the usefulness of PCPA as an inhibitor of 5HT synthesis in these experiments in doubtful since it also inhibited the hypoglycaemic effects of 5HTP and i.c.v.
  • (3) There is no doubt that new techniques in molecular biology will continue to evolve so that the goal of gene therapy for many disorders may be possible in the future.
  • (4) I never had any doubt that the vast majority of people engaged in "business" are not the exploiters but the exploited.
  • (5) There is no doubt that psychological, reactive and environmental factors do play a certain role too.
  • (6) Paul Doyle Kick-off Sunday midday Venue St Mary’s Stadium Last season Southampton 2 Leicester City 2 Live Sky Sports 1 Referee Michael Oliver This season G 18, Y 60, R 1, 3.44 cards per game Odds H 5-6 A 4-1 D 5-2 Southampton Subs from Taylor, Martina, Stephens, Davis, Rodriguez, Sims, Ward-Prowse Doubtful Bertrand, Davis, Van Dijk (all match fitness) Injured Boufal (knee, Jan), Hesketh (ankle, Feb), Targett (hamstring, Feb), Austin (shoulder, Mar), Pied (knee, Jun), Gardos (knee, unknown) Suspended None Form DWLLLL Discipline Y37 R2 Leading scorer Austin 6 Leicester City Subs from Zieler, Hamer, Wasilewski, Gray, Fuchs, James, Okazaki, Hernández, Kapustka, King Doubtful None Injured None Suspended None Unavailable Amartey, Mahrez, Slimani (Africa Cup of Nations) Form LDLWDL Discipline Y44 R1 Leading scorers Slimani, Vardy 5
  • (7) Without that, and without undertaking big changes, the service's future may fall into doubt, he says.
  • (8) This is welcome news but it needs to be borne in mind that the manufacturing sector is still far from racing ahead and serious doubts remain about the strength of demand for manufactured goods over the medium term, particularly once stimulative measures start being withdrawn.
  • (9) Doubts about Hinkley Point have deepened after a detailed report by HSBC’s energy analysts described eight key challenges to the project, which will be built by the state-backed French firm EDF and be part-financed by investment from China .
  • (10) The mean age of gravidae with doubtful smears is about 6 years beyond the mean age of gravidae with positive smears.
  • (11) I have no doubt that both the Conservative and Labour parties will maintain throughout the course of the election campaign their determination to build four submarines and 160 warheads,” he says.
  • (12) There is little doubt that when it opens next Thursday, One New Change will be jam-packed with City workers and tourists.
  • (13) We feel that they, as presented, leave serious doubt as to the validity of their conclusions.
  • (14) Contact guidance has been suggested to direct NC cells ventrally in the trunk, but this has been subject to doubt (see Newgreen and Erickson, 1986, Int.
  • (15) Although “there are serious questions and doubts in our minds over the government’s seven-day working agenda … it isn’t clear what this strike action is for and what the position of the BMA is now,” he told the Guardian.
  • (16) There is no doubt that people were killed quite deliberately by police officers.
  • (17) Other critics, even if they were unsure of the lasting relevance, were willing to give Tillmans the benefit of the doubt.
  • (18) We interpret this exaggerated positive attitude as an attempt to overcome inner fears, doubts and ambivalences.
  • (19) Another forward, Manchester United's Danny Welbeck, is a major doubt for the game with a knee complaint.
  • (20) Coghlin said: “There is no doubt that, as a consequence of the personalities involved, these proceedings attracted a very considerable degree of media publicity both before and, to a certain degree, subsequent to the trial.

Speculation


Definition:

  • (n.) The act of speculating.
  • (n.) Examination by the eye; view.
  • (n.) Mental view of anything in its various aspects and relations; contemplation; intellectual examination.
  • (n.) The act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed.
  • (n.) The act or practice of buying land, goods, shares, etc., in expectation of selling at a higher price, or of selling with the expectation of repurchasing at a lower price; a trading on anticipated fluctuations in price, as distinguished from trading in which the profit expected is the difference between the retail and wholesale prices, or the difference of price in different markets.
  • (n.) Any business venture in involving unusual risks, with a chance for large profits.
  • (n.) A conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; view; notion; conjecture.
  • (n.) Power of sight.
  • (n.) A game at cards in which the players buy from one another trumps or whole hands, upon a chance of getting the highest trump dealt, which entitles the holder to the pool of stakes.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It did the job of triggering growth, but it also fueled real-estate speculation, similar to what was going on in the mid-2000s here.” Slowing economic growth may be another concern.
  • (2) It has been speculated that these cigarette smoke-induced alterations contribute to the depressed pulmonary defense mechanisms commonly demonstrated in smokers.
  • (3) We speculate that this cleavage event is catalyzed by either a cryptic potyviral proteinase that requires a host factor or subcellular environment for activation, or possibly a host proteinase.
  • (4) 9.23pm GMT Expect the reporters to get even more speculative and desperate from hereon in.
  • (5) So it was speculated that the enhancement of pulmonary metastasis needs remaining of irradiated tumor in bodies of mice for a certain period.
  • (6) We speculate that intestinal injury may also induce or perpetuate arthritis by systemic distribution of inflammatory mediators produced by intestinal immune effector cells.
  • (7) We speculate that the preferential rupture of the H2B-H4 contact is of physiological significance.
  • (8) Such an explanation not only remains vague and speculative but deserves criticism also for being incomplete.
  • (9) One may speculate whether clinical conditions exist--apart from hereditary retinal dystrophies--in which the retina becomes more sensitive to light from strong artificial or natural sources, which are otherwise innoxious.
  • (10) The literature concerning the possible effects of tetracyclines on hemostasis with or without antecedent anticoagulation therapy is reviewed and the speculated mechanisms for such an interaction are discussed.
  • (11) Cable, once a leading critic of City speculation, insists the shares will go to responsible investors.
  • (12) "Getting a 95% loan to value mortgage lets you speculate on the expected house price increases a lot more than a 75% mortgage," he said.
  • (13) Thus one may speculate that endothelin plays a role in the coronary spasm which has been shown in patients with angina pectoris.
  • (14) Gerson Zweifach, general counsel for both News Corp and 21st Century Fox , Murdoch’s film and TV business, said: “We are grateful that this matter has been concluded and acknowledge the fairness and professionalism of the Department of Justice throughout this investigation.” It is understood there has been no background settlement with the Department of Justice in order to avoid a full-blown investigation, contrary to speculation in New York over a year ago that the company was looking at a possible payment of over $850m.
  • (15) Dealers speculated that Facebook's army of bankers had stepped in to stop the shares falling below $38, a move that would have landed the social network with a public relations disaster on its first day as a public company.
  • (16) If we were to have a plebiscite before the end of the year, and you were to reverse-engineer that, it would make interesting speculation about the timing of an election.” Abetz said in January he would need to see whether a plebiscite was “above board or whether the question is stacked” before deciding to heed any result in favour of marriage equality.
  • (17) Undoubtedly because new theories remain speculative when viewed from our own standpoint.
  • (18) Lack of transparency about the nature of the relationship between police and media also led to speculation and perceptions, whatever the facts, that caused "serious harm".
  • (19) The similarity of the low-K breathing pattern to that observed with reserpine administration together with the known relationships of K and catecholamine metabolism lead to the speculation that K depletion alters breathing via an effect on central catecholamine metabolism.
  • (20) Last week, Park offered a public apology after acknowledging Choi had edited some of her speeches and provided help with public relations, but South Korea’s media have speculated Choi played a much larger, secret role in government affairs.