1aware of and responding to one’s surroundings:although I was in pain, I was conscious
2having knowledge of something:we are conscious of the extent of the problem
[in combination] concerned with or worried about a particular matter:they were growing increasingly security-conscious
3(of an action or feeling) deliberate and intentional:a conscious effort to walk properly
(of the mind or a thought) directly perceptible to and under the control of the person concerned:when you go to sleep it is only the conscious mind which shuts down
