conceive

When I hurt my legs in an accident, I conceived or formed the idea of a new game—playing basketball in a wheelchair. Conceiving or imagining the game was difficult: first, I made teams of eight people, and then I decided that we needed to play my game in a large space, such as a parking lot. I conceived or thought of using trash cans for baskets since most parking lots don’t have basketball hoops. Little did I know that this game wasn’t new at all, but was conceived or created in the United States in 1946—but without using trash cans!

Quiz: Try again! What happens when you conceive something?

• You wonder about it for a long time.
• You form a thought or idea of it.
• You fully understand it, no matter how hard it is.

• The minds that had conceived such a great project made me feel wise, and the force of the sinews that had built the fortress made me feel strong. — The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• It was hard to conceive that the two large limestone beds we were clambering around on had once been under large inland seas. — Smithsonian Magazine
• If Adam had conceived thousands of ideas, the way Sam Hamilton had, they might all have drifted away, but he had only the one. — East of Eden by John Steinbeck