Definition Definition

discover - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'discover' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Discover [ v. i.]
- To discover or show one's self.
2 . Discover [ v. t.]
- To uncover.
- To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown).
- To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect.
- To manifest without design; to show.
- To explore; to examine.

Meaning of 'discover' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . discover [ v]
Meaning (1):
- make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
Example in sentence:
  • bring out the truth;
  • he broke the news to her;
  • The actress won't reveal how old she is;
  • The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold;
  • The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings;
  • unwrap the evidence in the murder case
Meaning (2):
- get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
Example in sentence:
  • I learned that she has two grown-up children;
  • I see that you have been promoted
Meaning (3):
- make a discovery, make a new finding
Example in sentence:
  • Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle;
  • Roentgen discovered X-rays
Meaning (4):
- discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
Example in sentence:
  • She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water;
  • We found traces of lead in the paint
Meaning (5):
- make a discovery
Example in sentence:
  • She found that he had lied to her;
  • The story is false, so far as I can discover
Meaning (6):
- find unexpectedly
Example in sentence:
  • she struck a goldmine;
  • the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb;
  • The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake
Meaning (7):
- see for the first time; make a discovery
Example in sentence:
  • Who discovered the North Pole?