DISCOVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does discover mean? 

• DISCOVER (verb)
  The verb DISCOVER has 8 senses:

1. discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of

2. get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally

3. make a discovery, make a new finding

4. make a discovery

5. find unexpectedly

6. make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

7. see for the first time; make a discovery

8. identify as in botany or biology, for example

  Familiarity information: DISCOVER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISCOVER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they discover    ... he / she / it discovers   
Past simple: discovered   
Past participle: discovered   
-ing form: discovering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

detect; discover; find; notice; observe

Context example:

We found traces of lead in the paint

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

sight; spy (catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes)

Verb group:

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

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

Derivation:

discoverer (someone who is the first to observe something)

discovery (the act of discovering something)

discovery (a productive insight)

discovery (something that is discovered)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see

Context example:

I see that you have been promoted

Verb group:

find; see; witness (perceive or be contemporaneous with)

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

wise up (get wise to)

catch; trip up (detect a blunder or misstep)

ascertain (learn or discover with certainty)

discover; find (make a discovery)

get the goods (discover some bad or hidden information about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They discover that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

discovery (a productive insight)

discovery (something that is discovered)

discovery (the act of discovering something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a discovery, make a new finding

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

discover; find

Context example:

Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle

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

conceive; conceptualise; conceptualize; gestate (have the idea for)

Verb group:

detect; discover; find; notice; observe (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

ascertain; determine; find; find out (establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study)

discover; find (make a discovery)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

discovery (something that is discovered)

discovery (a productive insight)

discovery (the act of discovering something)

discoverer (someone who is the first to think of or make something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a discovery

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

discover; find

Context example:

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)

Verb group:

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

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

rake up (bring to light)

ferret; ferret out (search and discover through persistent investigation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

discovery (the act of discovering something)

discovery (a productive insight)

discovery (something that is discovered)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Find unexpectedly

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

attain; chance on; chance upon; come across; come upon; discover; fall upon; happen upon; light upon; strike

Context example:

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

Derivation:

discovery (the act of discovering something)

discovery (something that is discovered)

Sense 6

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:

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap

Context example:

The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings

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)

Verb group:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

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

spring (produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly)

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)

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

Derivation:

discovery (something that is discovered)

Sense 7

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

Derivation:

discovery (the act of discovering something)

discovery (a productive insight)

discovery (something that is discovered)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Identify as in botany or biology, for example

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

describe; discover; distinguish; identify; key; key out; name

"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

 Context examples 

Then he discovered him, standing where he had been lying, near to the stove.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

MAGE-A3, a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) originally discovered in melanoma cells, is expressed by various tumor types.

(Astuprotimut-R, NCI Thesaurus)

If you already have a child, this full moon may be a moment when you discover a talent in your child that is exciting and that you and your child agree deserves developing.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A bone osteosarcoma affecting multiple skeletal sites, with multifocal lesions discovered between 6 and 24 months after the appearance of the initial tumor.

(Asynchronous Multifocal Osteosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

And it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones from those which I had expected.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The research team discovered NGTS-1b using the Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), an array of telescopes physically located in Chile, which was designed to search for planets around bright stars.

(Astronomers report dwarf star with unexpectedly giant planet, Wikinews)

On inquiry, the police have discovered that Mme. Henri Fournaye only returned from a journey to London on Tuesday last, and there is evidence to connect her with the crime at Westminster.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But presently I discovered underneath it, Miss Mowcher.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

If I should go out of this Palace my people would soon discover I am not a Wizard, and then they would be vexed with me for having deceived them.

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

This newly discovered huge structure around the system may have implications for what this yet-unseen planetary system looks like around the 8-million-year-old star, which is in its formative years of planet construction.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)