From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcommon senseˌcommon ˈsense ●○○ noun [uncountable] SENSIBLEthe ability to behave in a sensible way and make practical decisions Use your common sense for once! a common-sense approach to educationCOLLOCATIONSverbshave common senseSome people are brilliant thinkers, but they have no common sense.use your common senseIf something goes wrong, just use your common sense.be based on common senseThe job doesn't require much training because it's based on common sense.show common senseHis attitude shows no common sense at all.common sense tells you/me etc somethingCommon sense tells me that I should get more sleep.common sense suggests somethingPeople don't always do what common sense suggests.common sense dictates something (=tells you something very clearly)Common sense dictates that you should avoid handling wild animals.common sense prevails (=is strong enough to make you do the sensible thing)Eventually common sense prevailed and they reached an agreement.defy common sense (=not be sensible)The proposed change in the law defies common sense.adjectivessimple/plain/basic/sheer common sense (=very obviously sensible)Locking your doors at night is simple common sense.sound common sense (=sensible and reliable)These ideas contained much sound common sense.common sense + NOUNa common sense approachWe need a common sense approach to caring for the environment.a common sense viewRoss took the common sense view that it would be better to stay at home.phrasesa matter of common sense (=something that requires no more than common sense)Not driving too fast is just a matter of common sense.a lack of common senseLeaving the child alone in the car showed a lack of common sense.an ounce of common sense (=a very small amount)Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have realised that was a silly thing to do.
Examples from the Corpus
common sense• Use your common sense when deciding when children should go to bed. 