From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishassumptionas‧sump‧tion /əˈsʌmpʃən/ ●●○ W2 AWL noun 1 [countable]THINK SO/NOT BE SURE something that you think is true although you have no definite proof → assumeassumption that A lot of people make the assumption that poverty only exists in the Third World. My calculations were based on the assumption that house prices would remain steady.assumption about People make a lot of assumptions about me.2 [uncountable] formalCONTROL when someone starts to have control or powerassumption of the assumption of responsibilityCOLLOCATIONSverbsmake an assumptionYou’re making a lot of assumptions for which you have no proof.be based on/rest on an assumptionOur plans were based on the assumption that everyone would be willing to help.work on an assumption (=act according to something that may not be true)The police seemed to be working on the assumption that he was guilty.adjectivesa reasonable/valid assumptionThis seemed like a reasonable assumption.a common/general/widespread assumptionThere’s a common assumption that science is more difficult than other subjects.a basic/fundamental/underlying assumptionThere is a basic assumption in international law that a state will protect its citizens.a correct assumptionMany people acted on the correct assumption that interest rates would rise.a wrong/false/mistaken assumptionBoth theories are based on a single wrong assumption.an underlying assumption (=a belief that is used as the basis for an idea, but which may not be correct)There seems to be an underlying assumption in what he says that women are weaker than men.a tacit/unspoken assumption (=one that no one says aloud)There seemed to be a tacit assumption that they would get married.a questionable assumption (=one that is likely to be wrong)That assumption was obviously highly questionable.
Examples from the Corpus
assumption• The report also notes the confused assumptions that governed the relationship between Kimmel and Short.• Yes the Socialists will probably win -- that seems a fair assumption.• Here we see that Bourdieu criticizes structuralism for its assumptions, not of too little, but of too much scientific objectivity.• We also need to make assumptions about the knowledge of the people with whom we are interacting.• Any decisions made about allocations are not value-free but are now based on the original assumptions about the weightings.• Questions to be explored include: How large is the gap between policy assumptions and social reality?• At that time we had to make the assumption that the disease was spreading and take action to stop it.• Eden acted on the assumption that his allies would support him.• It is clear that Dworkin does make this assumption.• When historians and anthropologists first began to investigate the issue of pre-patriarchal cultures they made two assumptions.assumption that• Fourteen-month-olds, with their innocent assumption that we all want the same thing, give her biscuits.• This definition follows from the assumption that half the labour force establish contracts in even periods and half in odd periods.• But this was based on the assumption that the current tax relief limit of £30,000 would be increased in line with inflation.• It was his tenant John Combes who revolutionized Reddish, on the assumption that Cray would pay for most of it.• This model promoted the assumption that evolution is based on a progressive trend with the human race as its goal.• Reddy disagrees with the assumption that such expensive energy supply is necessary.• The rebuke or the dismissal, then, becomes more fuel for their assumption that things are always being done to them.assumption of• Castro's assumption of power in 1959Assumption, TheThe AssumptionAssumption, The 1 (in the Roman Catholic religion) the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary (=Jesus' mother) into heaven2 the day (15 August) on which this event is celebrated 