[ UK /ɐsˈuːm/ ]
[ US /əˈsum/ ]
VERB
  1. take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person
    I'll accept the charges
    She agreed to bear the responsibility
  2. take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
    he adopted an air of superiority
    His voice took on a sad tone
    She assumed strange manners
    The story took a new turn
    The gods assume human or animal form in these fables
  3. take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
    I assume his train was late
  4. take up someone's soul into heaven
    This is the day when Mary was assumed into heaven
  5. occupy or take on
    She took up her position behind the tree
    strike a pose
    He assumes the lotus position
    We took our seats in the orchestra
    She took her seat on the stage
  6. seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession
    he usurped my rights
    He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town
    She seized control of the throne after her husband died
  7. make a pretence of
    She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger
    he feigned sleep
  8. put clothing on one's body
    The princess donned a long blue dress
    What should I wear today?
    The queen assumed the stately robes
    He got into his jeans
    He put on his best suit for the wedding
  9. take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities
    When will the new President assume office?
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How To Use assume In A Sentence

  • Even while he was missing, those uncertain hours of anxious speculation and dismal journalism, she had assumed Maxwell would be found boomingly alive, having spent the whole time enjoying the amorous advances of a short-sighted minke whale. Country of the Blind
  • But freshman composition, like the writing test, assumed a level of competency that few of these students had attained.
  • The study predicted that, by 2022, the country would still require $7.2 billion in foreign aid a year—and that assumes an upsurge of so-far inexistent mining-industry revenue and no dramatic deterioration of security. Afghanistan Seeks Enduring Support
  • The old, merry Whiting looked sideways at Richard, then the round face assumed an expression of diffident humility for Mr. Hanks. Morgan’s Run
  • But that is much more easily done if Cassell can reassume his role as the offensive ignition.
  • Second, lump sum payments are worked out on the basis of an assumed life expectancy.
  • Andrews assumes that the lyric poet's freedom to dissent is only the freedom to say ‘yes’ to the American ideology - individualism.
  • To believe that Obama is a socialist merely assumes his continued commitment to a world he has long described as his lodestar. Radical-In-Chief
  • Montresor assumed an air of indifference again.
  • Are the forces of fallacy still out there, waiting to reassume their hold? Times, Sunday Times
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