imply Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb express or state indirectly
    connote.
  2. verb suggest as a logically necessary consequence; in logic
  3. verb have as a logical consequence
    entail; mean.
    • The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers
  4. verb suggest that someone is guilty
    incriminate; inculpate.
  5. verb have as a necessary feature
    involve.
    • This decision involves many changes

WordNet

Im*ply" transitive verb
Etymology
From the same source as employ. See Employ, Ply, and cf. Implicate, Apply.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Implied ; present participle & verbal noun Implying
Definitions
  1. To infold or involve; to wrap up. Obs. "His head in curls implied." Chapman.
  2. To involve in substance or essence, or by fair inference, or by construction of law, when not include virtually; as, war implies fighting.
    Where a mulicious act is proved, a mulicious intention is implied. Bp. Sherlock.
    When a man employs a laborer to work for him, . . . the act of hiring implies an obligation and a promise that he shall pay him a reasonable reward for his services. Blackstone.
  3. To refer, ascribe, or attribute. Obs.
    Whence might this distaste arise? If [from] neither your perverse and peevish will. To which I most imply it. J. Webster.
    Syn. -- To involve; include; comprise; import; mean; denote; signify; betoken. See Involve.

Webster 1913