Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Something expected; a possibility.
- n. Chances.
- n. Financial expectations, especially of success.
- n. A potential customer, client, or purchaser.
- n. A candidate deemed likely to succeed.
- n. The direction in which an object, such as a building, faces; an outlook.
- n. Something presented to the eye; a scene: a pleasant prospect.
- n. The act of surveying or examining.
- n. The location or probable location of a mineral deposit.
- n. An actual or probable mineral deposit.
- n. The mineral yield obtained by working an ore.
- v. To search for or explore (a region) for mineral deposits or oil.
- v. To explore for mineral deposits or oil.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To look forward; have a view or outlook; face.
- (pros′ pekt). In mining, to make a search; explore: as, to prospect for a place which may be profitably worked for precious metal.
- To look forward toward; have a view of.
- (pros′ pekt). In mining: To explore for unworked deposits of ore, as a mining region.
- To do experimental work upon, as a new mining claim, for the purpose of ascertaining its probable value: as, he is prospecting a claim.
- n. The view of things within the reach of the eye; sight; survey.
- n. That which is presented to the eye; scene; view.
- n. A view or representation in perspective; a perspective; a landscape.
- n. An object of observation or contemplation.
- n. A place which affords an extensive view.
- n. A wide, long, straight street or avenue: as, the Ascension Prospect in St. Petersburg.
- n. Direction of the front of a building, window, or other object, especially in relation to the points of the compass; aspect; outlook; exposure: as, a prospect toward the south or north.
- n. A looking forward; anticipation; foresight.
- n. Expectation, or ground of expectation, especially expectation of advantage (often so used in the plural): as, a prospect of a good harvest; a prospect of preferment; his prospects are good.
- n. In mining, any appearance, especially a surface appearance, which seems to indicate a chance for successful mining. Sometimes used as a synonym of color in panning out auriferous sand, or more often for the entire amount of metal obtained in panning or vanning.
- n. In heraldry, a view of any sort used as a bearing: as, the prospect of a ruined temple. = Syn. 1-3. Scene, Landscape, etc. See
view , n. - n. In organ-building, the external front or façade of the instrument, including the case and the display-pipes.
Wiktionary
- n. The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.
- n. A hope; a hopeful.
- n. sports Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.
- n. music The facade of an organ.
- v. intransitive To search, as for gold.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. That which is embraced by eye in vision; the region which the eye overlooks at one time; view; scene; outlook.
- n. Especially, a picturesque or widely extended view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.
- n. rare A position affording a fine view; a lookout.
- n. Relative position of the front of a building or other structure; face; relative aspect.
- n. The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.
- n. That which is hoped for; ground for hope or expectation; expectation; probable result.
- v. To look over; to explore or examine for something.
- v. To make a search; to seek; to explore, as for mines or the like.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the visual percept of a region
- n. the possibility of future success
- n. someone who is considered for something (for an office or prize or honor etc.)
- n. a prediction of the course of a disease
- v. search for something desirable
- n. belief about (or mental picture of) the future
- v. explore for useful or valuable things or substances, such as minerals
Etymologies
- Latin prospectus, past participle of prospicere, to look forward, from pro, before, forward + specere, spicere, to look, to see (Wiktionary)
- Middle English prospecte, from Latin prōspectus, distant view, from past participle of prōspicere, to look out : prō-, forward; see pro-1 + specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“To me, a prospect is always better than a pick if they are of comparable value.”
“Helleborine, who could be the better long-term prospect, is 8-1, but must have the French Guineas as an alternative.”
“If this prospect is a real one, then we must start now to prepare our case for having a withdrawal question on the ballot paper.”
“So it has suddenly discovered that, though the prospect is as yet still distant, its huge parliamentary advantage is under threat in a way that it never would have been had we never had devolution.”
“No, Ellee I don't think I could cope with a whole class of kids - the prospect is a scarey one for me.”
“But few people with the specialised knowledge I have would give up their jobs and join the police when the prospect is a minimum of 4 years in a job where that experience is useless.”
“Either prospect is a development to be anticipated in 1975.”
“Even so, the prospect is there, no matter how obscure and uncertain the path to it may be.”
“And this prospect is a slightly sinister one, because it is obvious even now that the process of mechanization is out of control.”
“Your prospect is about as deceptive as a fata morgana!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘prospect’.
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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fifi
verbs Adj Adv noun
indulge, convene, solve, dissolve, prospect, prospective, allege, resolve, accountable, administration, amid, agenda and 407 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
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My GRE
concomitant, mendacity, corollary, mandate, ascertain, exacerbate, substantiate, perennial, exemplify, hegemony, acrimonious, repertoire and 653 more...
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Joshee Word List
gash, engross, entail, stoke, ode, vacillate, aspersion, asperity, clan, kith, prospect, nag and 229 more...
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courtneyah's Words
sigh, troglodyte, lithe, cambium, bark, poem, trochee, minute, ablution, hermeneutic, dogwood, mystique and 98 more...
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Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Words from 2009 'Inglourious Basterds' film.
guise, testify, trepidation, moniker, bestow, buffling, cunning, scamper, animosity, rodent, repulsive, dignity and 74 more...
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Oregon towns that you'd find in the d...
boring, zigzag, rhododendron, halfway, bend, drain, beaver, alfalfa, cove, warren, wagontire, needy and 25 more...
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the blood jet is poetry
A selection of frequent or favourite words from Sylvia Plath's Collected Poems, as part of my bid to read them all. Quotes can be found on each citation page.
whiteness, zen, dryad, rook, tulip, kindness, troublous, portico, prospect, blight, havoc, millrace and 62 more...
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OrbitalCombustion's Words
nepenthe, phrontistery, peregrination, pervicacious, sinistrality, phallogocentric, prolixity, leptokurtic, ineffable, haecceity, lucubration, vicissitudes and 1026 more...
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More than Meets the Eye
Words that mean more than what I thought they do.
arch, husband, offices, swell, slight, jot, see, graft, plumb, hitch, psych, rake and 61 more...
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Broken Land
Welcome to Brooklyn, home to everyone from everywhere.
coney, sheepshead, prospect, vinegar, cyclone, dodger, elevated, fugheddaboudit, hipster, subway, oy, atlantic
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Business Words & Terminology
commerce, trade, stock, product, market, bargain, deal, sales, barter, merchandise, patronage, customer and 13 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for prospect.

ofravens Fractured pillars frame prospects of rock
from "Conversation Among the Ruins," Sylvia Plath Mar 26, 2008