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[ verb ] get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
Examples "I learned that she has two grown-up children" "I see that you have been promoted" Used in print (Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)Mr._A. , her fellow townsman , also experienced a nervous_breakdown just as_soon_as he discovered that he had been bilked of his life savings by the limited practitioner who had been treating his wife - a woman suffering from an incurable disease , multiple_sclerosis - and himself . (John Michael Ray, "Rhode Island's Reactions...)The editor of the Newport_Advertiser could discover no evidence of extenuating circumstances in the Brown trial which would warrant making an exception to the infliction of capital_punishment . A week later the Daily_Journal had discovered the initial plans of some Providence citizens to hold a meeting honoring John_Brown on the day of his execution . (Tristram Coffin, Not to the Swift....)The reporters had not_yet discovered that this was his hideaway . (S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)Then , having wrapped the lot in an afghan my dog customarily slept on , you lammed out the front_door , considerately leaving it open for neighbors to discover . |
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[ verb ] discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
Examples "She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water" "We found traces of lead in the paint" Used in print (Tristram P. Coffin, "Folklore in the American Twentieth...)In its propagandistic and commercial haste to discover our folk heritage , the public has remained ignorant of definitions such as this . (William S. Haymond, "Is Distance an Original...)Instead , he constantly became lost in parts and components of them , confused some of their details with those of neighboring objects , and_so_on , unless he allowed time to `` trace '' the object in_question through minute movements of the head and hands and in this way to discover its contours . (Jim Berry Pearson, The Maxwell Land Grant....)Cook had discovered a beef in his possession a_few days earlier and , when he could not show the hide , arrested him . (W. E. B. DuBois, Worlds of Color....)After looking about a_bit , Wilson discovered beyond Black_Bottom , across the river and far removed from the white city , a considerable tract of land , and it occurred to him that the church and the better Negro homes might gradually be moved to this plot . (Guy Endore, Voltaire! Voltaire!...)He was really amazed to discover the other guests so excited about these delicate little songs . |
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[ verb ] make a discovery, make a new finding
Synonyms Examples "Roentgen discovered X-rays" "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle" Used in print (Frank Getlein and Harold C. Gardiner, S.J., Movies,...)Melies , however , out of his professional instincts as a magician , discovered and made use of a number of illusionary techniques that remain part of the vocabulary of film . (B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)If we manage to keep track of a Bombus queen after she has left her feeding place , we may discover the snug little hideout which she has fixed_up for herself when she woke_up from her winter sleep . (Robert A. Futterman, The Future of Our Cities....)Moreover , the cost of operations is always high in any new store , as the conservative bankers who act_as controllers for retail giants are beginning to discover . (Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land....)A Tibetan swami from Palermo , Sicily , announced in Beverly_Hills a newly discovered , ancient yoga discipline for ripple breathing which increased both pranha and cosmic attraction between sexes . (Evan Esar, Humorous English; a guide to comic ,...)In recent years gagwriters have discovered this brand of blunder and thus the misplaced modifier has acquired a new habitat in the gagline . |
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[ verb ] make a discovery
Synonyms Examples "She found that he had lied to her" "The story is false, so far as I can discover" Used in print (Organic Gardening and Farming,...)Dr._Wilson_C._Grant , of the Veterans_'_Administration_Hospital , Coral_Gables , Florida , and the University_of_Miami_School_of_Medicine , set_out to discover if avocados , because of their high content of unsaturated fatty_acids , would reduce the cholesterol of the blood in selected patients . (J. H. Hexter, "Thomas More: On the Margins...)Can we discover what it is in Utopia that has evoked this response ? (John Hazard Wildman, "Take It Off," The Arizona...)`` Just you wait '' , said Arlene again , as though she were discovering the pleasantly tingling insinuations of that handy little sturdy statement . |
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[ verb ] find unexpectedly
Examples "the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb" "she struck a goldmine" "The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake" Used in print (Rocky Mountain News, [Denver, Colorado]...)There are even motels for local weather peculiarities , as I discovered in Shamrock , Tex. . |
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[ verb ] find unexpectedly
Examples : "the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb" "she struck a goldmine" "The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake" Related terms |
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[ verb ] make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
Examples "The auction house would not disclose the price" "She won't reveal her age" "bring out the truth" "he broke the news to her" Used in print (John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)I have chosen to use the word `` mimesis '' in its Christian rather than its classic implications and to discover in the concrete forms of both art and myth powers of theological expression which , as in the Christian mind , are the direct consequence of involvement in historical experience , which are not reserved , as in the Greek mind , only to moments of theoretical reflection . |
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[ verb ] see for the first time; make a discovery
Examples "Who discovered the North Pole?" Used in print (Jim Harmon, "The Planet with No Nightmare," If,...)They lay months away from the nearest Earth star by jump drive , and no one knew what they were good for , although it was felt that they would probably be good for something if it could only be discovered - much like the continent of Antarctica in ancient history . Related terms |
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