search

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English

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Etymology

From Middle English serchen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sercher, Old French cerchier, from Late Latin circō, circāre (“to circle; go around; search for”), from Latin circa, circus.

Pronunciation

Noun

search (countable and uncountable, plural searches)

  1. An attempt to find something.
    • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[1]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
      At least eight people died, and officials expressed deep concerns that the toll would rise as more searches of homes were carried out.
    With only five minutes until we were meant to leave, the search for the keys started in earnest.
  2. The act of searching in general.
    • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
      Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.
    Search is a hard problem for computers to solve efficiently.

Related terms

Translations

Verb

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  1. (transitive) To look in (a place) for something.
    I searched the garden for the keys and found them in the vegetable patch.
  2. (intransitive, followed by "for") To look thoroughly.
    The police are searching for evidence in his flat.
    • (Can we date this quote by John Locke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      It sufficeth that they have once with care sifted the matter, and searched into all the particulars.
    • Template:RQ:Mrxl SqrsDghtr
      He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again […] she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
    • 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
      Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
  3. (transitive, now rare) To look for, seek.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.vi:
      To search the God of loue, her Nymphes she sent / Throughout the wandring forrest euery where […].
    • Template:RQ:Authorized Version
      For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
    • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Enough is left besides to search and know.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To probe or examine (a wound).
  5. (obsolete) To examine; to try; to put to the test.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

to search — see look,‎ look for

See also

Anagrams

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