search

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore.
2. v. To make a careful examination or investigation of; probe: search one's conscience for the right solution to the problem.
3. v. Law To make a thorough check of (a legal document); scrutinize: search a title.
4. v. To examine in order to find something lost or concealed.
5. v. To examine the person or personal effects of in order to find something lost or concealed.
6. v. To come to know; learn.
7. v. To conduct a thorough investigation; seek: were searching for clues.
8. n. An act of searching.
9. n. Law The exercise of right of search.
10. idiom. search me Slang Used by a speaker to indicate that he or she does not have an answer to a question just asked.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To go through and examine carefully and in detail, as in quest of something lost, concealed, or as yet undiscovered; explore: as, to search a ship; to search one's baggage or person at the custom-house.
2. To examine by probing; probe: as, to search a wound.
3. To test; put to the test; try.
4. To look for; seek out; make search for; endeavor to find.
5. To explore or investigate.
6. To reach or penetrate to.
7. Synonyms To sift, probe.
8. 1 and Search, Scrutinize, Explore. We search a place or search for a thing by looking everywhere with a close attention; we scrutinize a thing with a close attention, without emphasizing the idea of looking throughout; we explore that which is unknown and outside of our ordinary travels or knowledge. See examination.
9. To make search; seek; look: with for before the object sought.
10. To make strict or careful inquiry; inquire.
11. n. A seeking or looking, as for something lost, concealed, desired, etc.; the act of going through a receptacle, place, collection of things, or the like, with the view of finding something lost, hidden, or undiscovered; exploratory examination; quest; inquiry; investigation: as, to make search; in search of a wife; to give up the search.
12. n. Synonyms Inquiry, Scrutiny, etc. (see examination), exploration.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To look in (a place) for something.
2. v. intransitive, followed by "for" To look thoroughly.
3. v. transitive To look for, seek.
4. v. transitive, obsolete To probe or examine (a wound).
5. n. An attempt to find something.
6. n. The act of searching in general.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To look over or through, for the purpose of finding something; to examine; to explore.
2. v. To inquire after; to look for; to seek.
3. v. To examine or explore by feeling with an instrument; to probe.
4. v. To examine; to try; to put to the test.
5. v. To seek; to look for something; to make inquiry, exploration, or examination; to hunt.
6. n. The act of seeking or looking for something; quest; inquiry; pursuit for finding something; examination.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. search or seek
2. v. try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
3. n. an investigation seeking answers
4. n. an operation that determines whether one or more of a set of items has a specified property
5. v. inquire into
6. n. the examination of alternative hypotheses
7. v. subject to a search
8. n. the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone
9. n. boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas