FIND OUT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does find out mean? 

• FIND OUT (verb)
  The verb FIND OUT has 4 senses:

1. establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study

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

3. find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort

4. trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act

  Familiarity information: FIND OUT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIND OUT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

ascertain; determine; find; find out

Context example:

The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize

Verb group:

ascertain; check; determine; find out; learn; see; watch (find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort)

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

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

gauge (determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation)

translate (determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA)

rectify (math: determine the length of)

redetermine (fix, find, or establish again)

sequence (determine the order of constituents in)

refract (determine the refracting power of (a lens))

count; enumerate; number; numerate (determine the number or amount of)

admeasure (determine the quantity of someone's share)

locate; situate (determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

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 "find out"):

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 frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They find out that there was a traffic accident

Sense 3

Meaning:

Find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

ascertain; check; determine; find out; learn; see; watch

Context example:

Check whether the train leaves on time

Verb group:

ascertain; assure; check; control; ensure; insure; see; see to it (be careful or certain to do something; make certain of something)

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

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

test (determine the presence or properties of (a substance))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They find out whether there was a traffic accident

Sense 4

Meaning:

Trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

catch out; find out

Context example:

She was found out when she tried to cash the stolen checks

Hypernyms (to "find out" is one way to...):

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

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Most likely he had gone for a glass of beer Martin decided, but the half-mile walk down to the village to find out seemed a long journey to him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A method used to find out the stage of cancer (amount or spread of cancer in the body) using tests that are done before surgery.

(Clinical staging, NCI Dictionary)

We shall see the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us anything.

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

Checking for these changes may help diagnose cancer or find out if cancer has come back.

(Chromosome 17, NCI Dictionary)

Measuring the amount of chromogranin A in the blood may help to diagnose cancer or other conditions or find out how well treatment is working or if cancer has come back.

(chromogranin A, NCI Dictionary)

Measuring the amount of specific cytokeratins in the blood may help to plan cancer treatment or find out how well treatment is working or if cancer has come back.

(Cytokeratin, NCI Dictionary)

He returns to the house, and you want to find out who he is.

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

To find out, Williams and Morrison took samples from the main OMT open pit.

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

Surely it would not be difficult to find out.

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

A lab test to find out if cancer cells have estrogen receptors (proteins to which estrogen will bind).

(Estrogen receptor test, NCI Dictionary)