The phrase "a distinct idea of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing clarity or specificity regarding a concept or notion someone has.
Example: "After the discussion, I finally had a distinct idea of what the project required."
Alternatives: "a clear understanding of" or "a precise concept of".
Even before he had much of an audience, he had a distinct idea of the audience he wanted.
The Standard's chances of success are high: Murdoch appears ready to invest many millions of dollars; it has talent, an obvious niche, exquisite timing, and a distinct idea of itself.
"It's a distinct idea of a woman I have in my head, but it's almost an imaginary figure that happens in the process of creation rather than at the end".
Moreover, Whewell included as Fundamental Ideas many ideas which function not as conditions of experience but as conditions for having knowledge within their respective sciences: although it is certainly possible to have experience of the world without having a distinct idea of, say, Chemical Affinity, we could not have any knowledge of certain chemical processes without it.
As Darwin knew, his theory of evolution required a distinct idea of how biological heredity worked, but in 1859 he was not prepared to offer one.
None of our country's four slain Presidents were victims of any distinct idea of opposition or hope of gain; they were sacrificed, rather, to the blind tides of criminality and insanity that make civilization precarious.
'Some Americans I have spoken with (who were otherwise of quick and rational parts enough) could not, as we do, by any means count to 1,000; nor had any distinct idea of that number," wrote the English philosopher John Locke in 1690.
(Notice that the idea that (1) captures the minimal commitment of physicalism is a distinct idea from that of a minimal physical duplicate which Jackson uses in his attempt to capture minimal physicalism).
While physicians have a distinct idea which amount of change in clinical measures such as blood pressure is relevant, interpretation of PROM scores is less apparent.
Especially for long-term personal loans, lenders will want to have a very distinct idea of why the applicant is pursuing the loan in the first place.
Excerpts were identified both conceptually (based on the beginning and ending of a distinct idea) and contextually (including all necessary information for accurate interpretation).
