Conclusion Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONCLUSION

[count]

a final decision or judgment

an opinion or decision that is formed after a period of thought or research

What is your conclusion? [=what do you conclude?]
The evidence does not support the report's conclusions.
The evidence points/leads to the inescapable conclusion that she was negligent.
The logical/obvious conclusion is that she was negligent.
What led/brought you to that conclusion?
After thinking about it, we came to the conclusion [=we decided] that we shouldn't go.
Scientists haven't yet reached a conclusion [=made a judgment/decision] on/about the causes of this illness.
They haven't yet arrived at a conclusion.
Is it possible to draw conclusions [=make judgments] from this evidence?

◊ To jump/leap to conclusions is to make judgments too quickly before knowing all the facts.

The evidence suggests that he's to blame, but let's be careful not to jump to conclusions. He may have a good explanation for what happened.
We should hear his explanation before we jump to the conclusion that he's to blame.

[count]

the last part of something

— usually singular

Many people were upset at the conclusion of the meeting. [=when the meeting concluded/ended]
a satisfactory conclusion to the negotiations
The conclusion of her speech contained some surprising news.
The strike has finally reached its conclusion. [=has finally ended]
At this point, his victory seems to be a foregone conclusion. [=his victory seems certain; there seems to be no doubt that he will win]

the act of concluding or finishing something or the state of being finished

[singular]

We had hoped for a quick conclusion of/to the war. [=had hoped that the war would end quickly]
The case was finally brought to a conclusion [=was finally concluded] last week.

[noncount]

in conclusion

— used to introduce the final comments at the end of a speech or a piece of writing