1. A thought or collection of thoughts that generate in the mind. An idea is usually generated with intent, but can also be created unintentionally. Ideas often form during brainstorming sessions or through discussions.
2. An impression or notion that tries to portray the overarching scope or outline. "Give me a general idea of how much the project will cost," refers to the fact that the supervisor needs a general estimate of how much the employee believes the project will cost.
3. An opinion or belief. "My idea is that a telephone call is more personal than email," represents an opinion of which method of communication is more personal.
Use 'idea' in a Sentence
He had a brilliant idea regarding increasing sales in his company but it took the marketing team a number of months to implement it.
When trying to figure out how to make an income while laid up with a broken leg, writing seemed my best idea.
The tech company members had decided on an idea and now were brainstorming on how to further that idea and bring it to fruition in the real world.
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Notable Quotable
The Idea and Money
"Money never starts an idea; it is the idea that starts the money."
The Success of Businesses Lies with the Idea
"Idealab initially made only Internet companies because we felt this was an incredible new medium that had unbelievably high gross margins. If you could make a Web site, you could sell something online and you could make margins of 90 percent or higher. When we looked back at the ones that were most and least successful, we realized it had nothing to do with their margins. It had to do with how protectable the idea was. Was there a core intellectual property with which you could differentiate yourself and earn sustainable margins? Because you can make good margins online, but if you can't sustain them, it doesn't mean anything. So that led us to take another look at all businesses -- even companies that make physical products. We had shield away from making anything with atoms; we were all caught up in doing only things with bits. But you can make things with atoms and still have a huge amount of intellectual property in them, where you can earn good margins and protectable margins."
Startups in 13 Sentences (#3)
"Let your idea evolve. This is the second half of launching fast. Launch fast and iterate. It's a big mistake to treat a startup as if it were merely a matter of implementing some brilliant initial idea. As in an essay, most of the ideas appear in the implementing."