a feeling in your body when something touches it, hurts it, or changes its temperature
After touching the stove, she felt a sharp burning sensation in her finger.
The dentist waited until all sensation returned to my lip before letting me go home.
✦ From Latin “sensus” meaning “feeling” plus the noun-forming suffix “-tion”.
a feeling or impression in your mind that something is happening, often without clear proof
I had the strange sensation that someone was following me through the empty hallway.
He woke up with the sensation of having forgotten something important.
✦ Later figurative use of physical sense meaning, recorded since the 17th century.
something or someone that causes great excitement and gets a lot of public attention
The rookie striker became an overnight sensation after scoring five goals in one game.
Her dance video went viral and turned her into a global sensation.
✦ Sense of “exciting event” arose in the early 19th century from the idea of stirring people’s feelings.
