PROSPECT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does prospect mean? 

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

1. the possibility of future success

2. belief about (or mental picture of) the future

3. someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.)

4. the visual percept of a region

5. a prediction of the course of a disease

  Familiarity information: PROSPECT used as a noun is common.

• PROSPECT (verb)
  The verb PROSPECT has 2 senses:

1. search for something desirable

2. explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals

  Familiarity information: PROSPECT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROSPECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The possibility of future success

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

chance; prospect

Context example:

his prospects as a writer are excellent

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

potency; potential; potentiality (the inherent capacity for coming into being)

Derivation:

prospect (search for something desirable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Belief about (or mental picture of) the future

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

expectation; outlook; prospect

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

belief (any cognitive content held as true)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prospect"):

hope; promise (grounds for feeling hopeful about the future)

foretaste (an early limited awareness of something yet to occur)

possibility (a future prospect or potential)

anticipation; expectancy (something expected (as on the basis of a norm))

apprehension; misgiving (painful expectation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

candidate; prospect

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

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The visual percept of a region

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

aspect; panorama; prospect; scene; view; vista

Context example:

the most desirable feature of the park are the beautiful views

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

visual image; visual percept (a percept that arises from the eyes; an image in the visual system)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prospect"):

background; ground (the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground)

coast (the area within view)

exposure (aspect resulting from the direction a building or window faces)

foreground (the part of a scene that is near the viewer)

glimpse (a brief or incomplete view)

middle distance (the part of a scene between the foreground and the background)

side view (a view from the side of something)

tableau (any dramatic scene)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A prediction of the course of a disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

medical prognosis; prognosis; prospect

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

medical diagnosis (identification of a disease from its symptoms)

• PROSPECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they prospect    ... he / she / it prospects   
Past simple: prospected   
Past participle: prospected   
-ing form: prospecting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Search for something desirable

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

prospect a job

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

look; search (search or seek)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

prospect (the possibility of future success)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

explore; research; search (inquire into)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

The men prospect the area for animals
The men prospect for animals in the area

Derivation:

prospector (someone who explores an area for mineral deposits)

 Context examples 

It is impossible to say—Yes, indeed, I quite understand—dearest Jane's prospects—that is, I do not mean.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He stood up sometimes, and asked me what I thought of the prospect.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Neither do I remember to have seen a more delightful prospect.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I am not interested in the prospects of the Transcontinental and what you expect to make it next year.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There is no prospect of danger, or I should not dream of stirring out without you.

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

Suddenly, however, an unexpected incident opened up quite a new prospect to me.

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

Your prospects, however, are too fair to justify want of spirits.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The second year began rather soberly, for their prospects did not brighten, and Aunt March died suddenly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To Anne, it chiefly wore the prospect of an hour of agitation.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And why cannot I reconcile myself to the prospect of death?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)