find

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To come upon, often by accident; meet with.
2. v. To come upon or discover by searching or making an effort: found the leak in the pipe.
3. v. To discover or ascertain through observation, experience, or study: found a solution; find the product of two numbers; found that it didn't really matter.
4. v. To perceive to be, after experience or consideration: found the gadget surprisingly useful; found the book entertaining.
5. v. To experience or feel: found comfort in her smile.
6. v. To recover (something lost): found her keys.
7. v. To recover the use of; regain: found my voice and replied.
8. v. To succeed in reaching; arrive at: The dart found its mark.
9. v. To obtain or acquire by effort: found the money by economizing.
10. v. To decide on and make a declaration about: The jury deliberated and found a verdict of guilty. All the jurors found him guilty.
11. v. To furnish; supply.
12. v. To bring (oneself) to an awareness of what one truly wishes to be and do in life.
13. v. To perceive (oneself) to be in a specific place or condition: found herself at home that night; found himself drawn to the stranger.
14. v. To come to a legal decision or verdict: The jury found for the defendant.
15. n. The act of finding.
16. n. Something that is found, especially an unexpectedly valuable discovery: The Rosetta stone was a providential archaeological find.
17. find out To ascertain (something), as through examination or inquiry: I found out the phone number by looking it up. If you're not sure, find out.
18. find out To detect the true nature or character of; expose: Liars risk being found out.
19. find out To detect and apprehend; catch: Most embezzlers are found out in the end.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To discover by sight or feeling; come or light upon, either by seeking or unexpectedly; encounter or meet with for the first time.
2. To discover by methodical means; ascertain or make out by systematic exploration, trial, or study: as, to find bottom by sounding; to find a bullet in a wound by probing; an effort to find the philosopher's stone; to find one's way in the dark; to find the answer to a problem.
3. To discover the use of, or the way to make or use; invent; devise.
4. To discover or ascertain by experience; learn from observation or sensation: as, the climate was found to be unpropitious; to find a friend in a supposed enemy.
5. To succeed in attaining; gain by effort: as, to find leisure for a visit; to find safety in flight.
6. To come to or into by natural causes or by force of circumstances; arrive at; reach: as, water finds its level; the picture found its way to the auction-room.
7. To detect; catch: commonly with out. See to find out, below.
8. In law, to determine after judicial inquiry: as, the jury found him guilty; to find a verdict for the plaintiff.
9. To supply; provide; furnish: as, to find money or provisions for an expedition.
10. To support; maintain; provide for: followed by the direct object of the person (often reflexive), with in, formerly also with, before the thing provided: as, to receive ten dollars a week and find one's self.
11. To compose; set in order; arrange.
12. To reach home to; take the fancy of; appeal to the taste or liking of.
13. See def. 10.
14. In law, to determine an issue after judicial inquiry; direct judgment on the merits or facts of a case: as, the jury finds for the plaintiff.
15. n. A discovery of something valuable; the thing found: as, a find in the gold-fields; finds of prehistoric tools. The use of find as a noun has become common only since its application in recent times to discoveries of archæological remains.
16. To discover scent or game: said of dogs in the field.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To encounter, to discover something searched for.
2. v. transitive To point out.
3. v. transitive To decide that, to form the opinion that.
4. v. transitive To determine or judge.
5. n. Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.
6. n. The act of finding.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To meet with, or light upon, accidentally; to gain the first sight or knowledge of, as of something new, or unknown; hence, to fall in with, as a person.
2. v. To learn by experience or trial; to perceive; to experience; to discover by the intellect or the feelings; to detect; to feel.
3. v. To come upon by seeking.
4. v. To discover by sounding.
5. v. To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end.
6. v. To gain, as the object of desire or effort.
7. v. To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.
8. v. To provide for; to supply; to furnish
9. v. To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish
10. v. (Law) To determine an issue of fact, and to declare such a determination to a court.
11. n. Anything found; a discovery of anything valuable; especially, a deposit, discovered by archæologists, of objects of prehistoric or unknown origin.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. get something or somebody for a specific purpose
2. v. make a discovery, make a new finding
3. v. establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
4. n. the act of discovering something
5. v. get or find back; recover the use of
6. v. perceive or be contemporaneous with
7. v. come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds
8. v. come upon, as if by accident; meet with
9. n. a productive insight
10. v. discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
11. v. decide on and make a declaration about
12. v. come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost
13. v. succeed in reaching; arrive at
14. v. accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation
15. v. make a discovery
16. v. obtain through effort or management
17. v. receive a specified treatment (abstract)
18. v. perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place