0 present participle of presume
1 to believe something to be true because it is very likely, although you are not certain:
[ + (that) ] I presume (that) they're not coming, since they haven't replied to the invitation.
[ + speech ] You are Dr Smith, I presume?
[ + obj + adj ] The boat's captain is missing, presumed dead (= it is believed that he is dead).
In British law, you are presumed innocent until you are proved guilty.
[ + obj + to infinitive ] The universe is presumed to contain many other planets with some form of life.
2 to do something although you know that you do not have a right to do it:
She said it in a whisper so I presumed it wasn't common knowledge.
"Is he coming?" "I presume so."
Under the Bill of Rights, a person is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.
A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Presuming that the new stimuli will be more discriminable by our subjects, we will move on to the critical test of our hypothesis.
The problem is in presuming that this is the fundamental order of things.
Presuming these to be dead, we examine their effect in the section on closure.
