Library / English Dictionary

SEARCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An investigation seeking answers

Example:

the outcome justified the search

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("search" is a kind of...):

investigating; investigation (the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically)

Derivation:

search (inquire into)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas

Example:

right of search

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("search" is a kind of...):

examination; scrutiny (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

Derivation:

search (subject to a search)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone

Synonyms:

hunt; hunting; search

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("search" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "search"):

exploration (a careful systematic search)

forage; foraging (the act of searching for food and provisions)

frisk; frisking (the act of searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs)

looking; looking for (the act of searching visually)

manhunt (an organized search (by police) for a person (charged with a crime))

quest; seeking (the act of searching for something)

ransacking; rummage (a thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion))

scouring (moving over territory to search for something)

shakedown (a very thorough search of a person or a place)

Derivation:

search (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)

search (search or seek)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The examination of alternative hypotheses

Example:

his search for a move that would avoid checkmate was unsuccessful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("search" is a kind of...):

higher cognitive process (cognitive processes that presuppose the availability of knowledge and put it to use)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "search"):

hunt (an instance of searching for something)

pursuance; pursuit; quest (a search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An operation that determines whether one or more of a set of items has a specified property

Example:

they wrote a program to do a table lookup

Synonyms:

lookup; search

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("search" is a kind of...):

operation ((computer science) data processing in which the result is completely specified by a rule (especially the processing that results from a single instruction))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inquire into

Example:

Scientists are exploring the nature of consciousness

Synonyms:

explore; research; search

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "search" is one way to...):

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "search"):

beat about; cast about; cast around (search anxiously)

re-explore (explore anew)

mapquest (search for a location and directions by means of the MapQuest program)

google (search the internet (for information) using the Google search engine)

prospect (explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

search (an investigation seeking answers)

searcher (someone making a search or inquiry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of

Example:

They are searching for the missing man in the entire county

Synonyms:

look for; search; seek

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "search"):

browse; shop (shop around; not necessarily buying)

feel (grope or feel in search of something)

grub (search about busily)

angle; fish (seek indirectly)

go after; pursue; quest after; quest for (go in search of or hunt for)

seek out (look for a specific person or thing)

scour (examine minutely)

want (hunt or look for; want for a particular reason)

gather (look for (food) in nature)

hunt (seek, search for)

leave no stone unturned (search thoroughly and exhaustively)

browse; surf (look around casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular)

divine (search by divining, as if with a rod)

fumble; grope (feel about uncertainly or blindly)

finger (search for on the computer)

drag; dredge (search (as the bottom of a body of water) for something valuable or lost)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The banks search the check

Sam cannot search Sue

They search the water

Derivation:

search (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

searcher (a customs official whose job is to search baggage or goods or vehicles for contraband or dutiable items)

searcher (someone making a search or inquiry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Subject to a search

Example:

We searched the whole house for the missing keys

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "search" is one way to...):

examine; see (observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "search"):

comb; ransack (search thoroughly)

rummage (search haphazardly)

go; rifle (go through in search of something; search through someone's belongings in an unauthorized way)

scan (make a wide, sweeping search of)

strip-search (search (someone) for weapons or drugs by having the person remove their clothes)

frisk (search as for concealed weapons by running the hands rapidly over the clothing and through the pockets)

raid (search for something needed or desired)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to search the prisoners

Derivation:

search (boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas)

searcher (a customs official whose job is to search baggage or goods or vehicles for contraband or dutiable items)

searcher (someone making a search or inquiry)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Search or seek

Example:

Look elsewhere for the perfect gift!

Synonyms:

look; search

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "search" is one way to...):

examine; see (observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "search"):

hunt (search (an area) for prey)

cruise (look for a sexual partner in a public place)

prospect (search for something desirable)

horn in; intrude; nose; poke; pry (search or inquire in a meddlesome way)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The men search the area for animals

The men search for animals in the area

Derivation:

search (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

searcher (a customs official whose job is to search baggage or goods or vehicles for contraband or dutiable items)

searcher (someone making a search or inquiry)

Credits

 Context examples: 

She seemed to be searching for something that she could not find.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And the prince said, I am going in search of the Water of Life, because my father is ill, and like to die: can you help me?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The Abbot turned his angry eyes away from them and bent them upon the accused, who met his searching gaze with a firm and composed face.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When the four travelers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, and so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Then we all lit our lamps and proceeded on our search.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In searching for genes that reverse the rounded morphology of transformed cells in culture, RECK was identified (reversion-inducing, cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs).

(Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinases Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The various bedrooms and sitting-rooms had yielded nothing to a careful search.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A protein profile search method designed to find distant homologs.

(PDB BLAST, NCI Thesaurus)

Then we raced, and wildly, across the wild sea, the while I hung like a fly in the crosstrees and searched for the other boats.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

You can search the Internet for major events that happened in those years.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)