0 present participle of presume --
1 to believe something to be true because it is very likely, although you are not certain: --
[ + obj + to infinitive ] The universe is presumed to contain many other planets with some form of life.
In British law, you are presumed innocent until you are proved guilty.
[ + obj + adj ] The boat's captain is missing, presumed dead (= it is believed that he is dead).
[ + speech ] You are Dr Smith, I presume?
[ + (that) ] I presume (that) they're not coming, since they haven't replied to the invitation.
2 to do something although you know that you do not have a right to do it: --
In society and politics we can acknowledge the force of existing arrangements, presuming in favor of the status quo.
Our ignorance of their service notwithstanding, it would not be presuming too much to assume that these secretaries were important members of the governor's household.
This is to avoid presuming a discourse has power just from an observer's and\or its authors' conviction that it coheres.
Here we have the metropolitan scholar presuming to tell the nationalist leaders that he understands these realities better than they.
Presuming that the curve of the fingerboard is increased to match, stopping adjacent strings with the same finger (barring) is easier.
This journal will include the publication both of replications and of negative notes (presuming that the negative notes are justified).
But there are no theoretical or empirical grounds for presuming that it is a reasonable assumption.
Protectionism is paternalistic, de-contextualises the child by presuming he or she has an inherent 'nature', and denies the child a voice.
