ADJ.

comforting, good, happy, pleasant, positive

It was a comforting thought that at least her father hadn't suffered. Before going on stage, I breathe deeply and think positive thoughts.

| anxious, appalling, awful, bad, black, dark, depressing, disquieting, disturbing, gloomy, negative, sad, sobering, terrible

A disturbing thought suddenly struck me.

| interesting, intriguing | first, immediate, initial

My immediate thought was that he must be joking.

| sudden | little | fleeting, passing | conscious | unspoken | waking

She occupied all his waking thoughts.

VERB + THOUGHT

have, think

I've just had a thought (= an idea). He remained aloof, thinking his own thoughts.

| have

Let me have your thoughts on the report.

| express, write down | read

She often seems to know what I'm thinking, as though she can read my thoughts.

| dread, not be able to bear, not like, not relish

She said she couldn't bear the thought of living alone in the house. I don't like the thought of you walking home alone.

THOUGHT + VERB

come/pop into your mind, come to sb, cross your mind, go/flash/pass/race through your mind, hit sb, occur to sb, strike sb

The thought crossed my mind that Jim might know the answer. All kinds of thoughts raced through my mind.

| ~s turn to sth

My thoughts turned to home.

PREP.

~ about

He lay there thinking gloomy thoughts about life and death.

| ~ of

The children were overjoyed at the thought of going to the seaside on holiday.

| ~ on

They asked him what his thoughts were on the government's announcement.

PHRASES

just a thought

Would Mark be able to help? It's just a thought.

| keep your thoughts to yourself

He's not the kind of man to keep his thoughts to himself.

| the mere/very thought of sth

The mere thought of lice makes my head itch.

| push/put the thought aside/away, push the thought from/out of your mind

ADJ.

careful, proper | deep, profound

She is known for her deep thought and intellectual ways.

| coherent

He was so upset, he was incapable of coherent thought.

| logical, rational | analytical, critical | abstract | creative | free, independent | conscious

My job is so repetitive, it does not require much conscious thought.

| fresh

We have to give the matter fresh thought.

| second

I accepted the offer without a second thought.

VERB + THOUGHT

give sb/sth, spare (sb)

I've given the matter careful thought. Don't give it another thought (= to tell sb not to worry after they have said they are sorry)

. Spare a thought for us?we'll be working through the night to finish the report.

| direct, turn

I tried to turn my thoughts to pleasanter things.

| provoke

The article was intended to provoke thought.

| be deep in, be lost in

She was deep in thought and didn't hear me call her.

THOUGHT + VERB

go into sth

Not enough thought has gone into this essay.

THOUGHT + NOUN

pattern, process

I couldn't see what thought processes led him to that conclusion.

PREP.

without ~

They had acted rashly, without thought.

PHRASES

after a moment's thought

After a moment's thought, I accepted his offer.

| freedom of thought

The constitution guarantees freedom of thought and belief.

| a line/mode/train of thought

That line of thought can only lead to one conclusion. He hesitated, as though he had lost his train of thought.

| thought-provoking

There was a thought-provoking article about poverty in the paper.

| with no thought for sth

He ran into the burning house with no thought for his own life.

ADJ.

modern | 19th-century, etc. | Eastern, Western | intellectual, philosophical, scientific | economic, political | feminist, liberal, socialist, etc.

PHRASES

a school of thought

They belong to different schools of thought.

| a strand of thought

three different strands of scientific thought

ADJ.

kind, kindly, nice

Thank you for the flowers?it was a very kind thought.