Dictionary entry details
• DISCOVER (verb)
Meaning:
Discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Synonyms:
observe; notice; discover; detect; find
Context examples:
She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water / We found traces of lead in the paint
Hypernyms (to "discover" is one way to...):
sight (catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "discover"):
catch out; find out (trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act)
sense (detect some circumstance or entity automatically)
instantiate (find an instance of (a word or particular usage of a word))
trace (discover traces of)
see (observe as if with an eye)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Meaning:
Make a discovery, make a new finding
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Synonyms:
discover; find
Context examples:
Roentgen discovered X-rays / Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle
Hypernyms (to "discover" is one way to...):
conceive; conceptualise; conceptualize; gestate (have the idea for)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Meaning:
Get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
get a line; get wind; get word; learn; hear; find out; discover; pick up; see
Context examples:
I learned that she has two grown-up children / I see that you have been promoted
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "discover"):
get the goods (discover some bad or hidden information about)
wise up (get wise to)
catch; trip up (detect a blunder or misstep)
ascertain (learn or discover with certainty)
discover; find (make a discovery)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Sentence example:
They discover that there was a traffic accident
Meaning:
Make a discovery
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
discover; find
Context examples:
She found that he had lied to her / The story is false, so far as I can discover
Hypernyms (to "discover" is one way to...):
discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see (get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "discover"):
ferret; ferret out (search and discover through persistent investigation)
rake up (bring to light)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Meaning:
Find unexpectedly
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Synonyms:
happen upon; come upon; come across; chance upon; chance on; light upon; fall upon; attain; discover; strike
Context examples:
the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb / she struck a goldmine / The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake
Hypernyms (to "discover" is one way to...):
find; regain (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
let on; divulge; disclose; expose; unwrap; give away; let out; reveal; impart; discover; bring out; break
Context examples:
The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold / The actress won't reveal how old she is / bring out the truth / he broke the news to her / unwrap the evidence in the murder case
Hypernyms (to "discover" is one way to...):
tell (let something be known)
Cause:
break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "discover"):
reveal (disclose directly or through prophets)
babble; babble out; blab; blab out; let the cat out of the bag; peach; sing; spill the beans; talk; tattle (divulge confidential information or secrets)
leak (tell anonymously)
confide (reveal in private; tell confidentially)
betray; bewray (reveal unintentionally)
spring (produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly)
come out; come out of the closet; out (to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality)
out (reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle)
blow (cause to be revealed and jeopardized)
muckrake (explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures)
blackwash (bring (information) out of concealment)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Meaning:
See for the first time; make a discovery
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Context example:
Who discovered the North Pole?
"Discover" entails doing...:
comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "discover"):
rediscover (discover again)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Meaning:
Identify as in botany or biology, for example
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
key out; key; describe; distinguish; identify; name; discover
"Discover" entails doing...:
assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
