discover
Other forms: discovered; discovering; discovers
If you discover something, you find it unexpectedly, like when you discover your favorite childhood stuffed animal in a box of old junk.
When you discover something, it can be by surprise or the result of a search. You might discover the fact that your dad used to travel with the circus as a trapeze artist or discover a band none of your friends ever heard of. Scientists often discover new substances, stars, or organisms. The Latin root discooperire, "uncover," combines the prefix dis-, or "opposite of," with cooperire, "to cover up."
Definitions of discover
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discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
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find
make a discovery, make a new finding
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types:
- show 5 types...
- hide 5 types...
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catch out, find out
trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act
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sense
detect some circumstance or entity automatically
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instantiate
find an instance of (a word or particular usage of a word)
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trace
discover traces of
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see
observe as if with an eye
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find
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see for the first time; make a discovery“Who discovered the North Pole?”
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types:
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rediscover
discover again
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rediscover
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make a discovery, make a new finding“Roentgen discovered X-rays”
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synonyms:
find
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find
make a discovery
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ascertain, determine, find, find out
establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
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detect, find, notice, observe
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
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type of:
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conceive, conceptualise, conceptualize, gestate
have the idea for
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find
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make a discovery
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get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
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types:
- show 8 types...
- hide 8 types...
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get the goods
discover some bad or hidden information about
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wise up
get wise to
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catch, trip up
detect a blunder or misstep
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ascertain
learn or discover with certainty
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find
make a discovery
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rake up
bring to light
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price
ascertain or learn the price of
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ferret, ferret out
search and discover through persistent investigation
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find unexpectedly
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synonyms:
attain, chance on, chance upon, come across, come upon, fall upon, happen upon, light upon, strike
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make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
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break, get around, get out
be released or become known; of news
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types:
- show 12 types...
- hide 12 types...
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blackwash
bring (information) out of concealment
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muckrake
explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures
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blow
cause to be revealed and jeopardized
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out
reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle
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come out, come out of the closet, out
to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality
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spring
produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly
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betray, bewray
reveal unintentionally
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confide
reveal in private; tell confidentially
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leak
tell anonymously
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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
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reveal
disclose directly or through prophets
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relieve, unbosom
relieve oneself of troubling information
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type of:
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tell
let something be known
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break, get around, get out
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identify as in botany or biology, for example
Pronunciation
US
/dəˈskəvər/
UK
/dɪsˈskəvə/
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