SEARCH

Pronunciation (US):

• SEARCH (noun)
  The noun SEARCH has 5 senses:

1. the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone
2. an investigation seeking answers
3. an operation that determines whether one or more of a set of items has a specified property
4. the examination of alternative hypotheses
5. boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas

  Familiarity information: SEARCH used as a noun is common.

• SEARCH (verb)
  The verb SEARCH has 4 senses:

1. try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
2. search or seek
3. inquire into
4. subject to a search

  Familiarity information: SEARCH used as a verb is uncommon.

• SEARCH (noun)

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

search; hunting; hunt

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)

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

scouring (moving over territory to search for something)

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

quest; seeking (the act of searching for something)

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

looking; looking for (the act of searching visually)

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

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

Meaning:

An investigation seeking answers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context examples:

a thorough search of the ledgers revealed nothing / the outcome justified the search

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

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

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

lookup; search

Context example:

they wrote a program to do a table lookup

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))

Meaning:

The examination of alternative hypotheses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

his search for a move that would avoid checkmate was unsuccessful

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)

Meaning:

Boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

right of search

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

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

• SEARCH (verb)

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

look for; search; seek

Context examples:

The police are searching for clues / They are searching for the missing man in the entire county

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

scour (examine minutely)

seek out (look for a specific person or thing)

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

angle; fish (seek indirectly)

grub (search about busily)

feel (grope or feel in search of something)

browse; shop (shop around; not necessarily buying)

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

gather (look for (food) in nature)

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

finger (search for on the computer)

fumble; grope (feel about uncertainly or blindly)

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

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

leave no stone unturned (search thoroughly and exhaustively)

hunt (seek, search for)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

The banks search the check
Sam cannot search Sue
They search the water

Meaning:

Search or seek

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

search; look

Context examples:

We looked all day and finally found the child in the forest / Look elsewhere for the perfect gift!

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

Meaning:

Inquire into

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

research; explore; search

Context examples:

the students had to research the history of the Second World War for their history project / He searched for information on his relatives on the web / Scientists are exploring the nature of consciousness

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)

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

Meaning:

Subject to a search

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context examples:

The police searched the suspect / We searched the whole house for the missing keys

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