Definition of "idea" []

• Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity. (noun)
• An opinion, conviction, or principle: has some strange political ideas. (noun)
• A plan, scheme, or method. (noun)
• The gist of a specific situation; significance: The idea is to finish the project under budget. (noun)
• A notion; a fancy. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Scratch that "great idea," bit, here's a *stupid idea*: only Internet Explorer...."
• "Or rather it might be said that an idea, the _big idea_, danced unceremoniously into his brain, and, beginning to take definite and concrete form, chased a score of other smaller ideas through all the thought-channels of his handsome, boyish, well-rounded head."
• "The modern idea lays stress first of all on the _idea_ in music."