discover


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dis·cov·er

 (dĭ-skŭv′ər)
tr.v. dis·cov·ered, dis·cov·er·ing, dis·cov·ers
1. To notice or learn, especially by making an effort: got home and discovered that the furnace wasn't working.
2.
a. To be the first, or the first of one's group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.
b. To learn about for the first time in one's experience: discovered a new restaurant on the west side.
3. To learn something about: discovered him to be an impostor; discovered the brake to be defective.
4. To identify (a person) as a potentially prominent performer: a movie star who was discovered in a drugstore by a producer.
5. Archaic To reveal or expose.

[Middle English discoveren, to reveal, from Old French descovrir, from Late Latin discooperīre : Latin dis-, dis- + Latin cooperīre, to cover; see cover.]

dis·cov′er·a·ble adj.
dis·cov′er·er n.
Synonyms: discover, ascertain, determine, learn
These verbs mean to gain knowledge or awareness of something not known before: discovered a star in a distant galaxy; ascertaining the facts; tried to determine the origins of the problem; learned the sad news from the radio.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

discover

(dɪˈskʌvə)
vb (tr; may take a clause as object)
1. to be the first to find or find out about: Fleming discovered penicillin.
2. to learn about or encounter for the first time; realize: she discovered the pleasures of wine.
3. to find after study or search: I discovered a leak in the tank.
4. to reveal or make known
disˈcoverable adj
disˈcoverer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dis•cov•er

(dɪˈskʌv ər)

v.t.
1. to gain sight or knowledge of (something previously unseen or unknown).
2. to notice or realize.
3. Archaic. to make known; reveal; disclose.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French discoverir, Old French descovrir < Late Latin discooperīre]
dis•cov′er•a•ble, adj.
dis•cov′er•a•bly, adv.
dis•cov′er•er, n.
syn: See learn.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

invent

discover
1. 'invent'

If someone invents something new, they are the first person to think of it or make it.

Walter Hunt and Elias Howe invented the sewing machine.
2. 'discover'

You do not use 'invent' to say that someone finds out about something which exists but which was not previously known. The word you use is discover.

Herschel discovered a new planet.
Having found these fragments, the team of researchers discovered a way to date them.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

discover


Past participle: discovered
Gerund: discovering

Imperative
discover
discover
Present
I discover
you discover
he/she/it discovers
we discover
you discover
they discover
Preterite
I discovered
you discovered
he/she/it discovered
we discovered
you discovered
they discovered
Present Continuous
I am discovering
you are discovering
he/she/it is discovering
we are discovering
you are discovering
they are discovering
Present Perfect
I have discovered
you have discovered
he/she/it has discovered
we have discovered
you have discovered
they have discovered
Past Continuous
I was discovering
you were discovering
he/she/it was discovering
we were discovering
you were discovering
they were discovering
Past Perfect
I had discovered
you had discovered
he/she/it had discovered
we had discovered
you had discovered
they had discovered
Future
I will discover
you will discover
he/she/it will discover
we will discover
you will discover
they will discover
Future Perfect
I will have discovered
you will have discovered
he/she/it will have discovered
we will have discovered
you will have discovered
they will have discovered
Future Continuous
I will be discovering
you will be discovering
he/she/it will be discovering
we will be discovering
you will be discovering
they will be discovering
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been discovering
you have been discovering
he/she/it has been discovering
we have been discovering
you have been discovering
they have been discovering
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been discovering
you will have been discovering
he/she/it will have been discovering
we will have been discovering
you will have been discovering
they will have been discovering
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been discovering
you had been discovering
he/she/it had been discovering
we had been discovering
you had been discovering
they had been discovering
Conditional
I would discover
you would discover
he/she/it would discover
we would discover
you would discover
they would discover
Past Conditional
I would have discovered
you would have discovered
he/she/it would have discovered
we would have discovered
you would have discovered
they would have discovered
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.discover - discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of; "She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water"; "We found traces of lead in the paint"
catch out, find out - trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act; "He was caught out"; "She was found out when she tried to cash the stolen checks"
discover, find - make a discovery, make a new finding; "Roentgen discovered X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"
sense - detect some circumstance or entity automatically; "This robot can sense the presence of people in the room"; "particle detectors sense ionization"
instantiate - find an instance of (a word or particular usage of a word); "The linguists could not instantiate this sense of the noun that he claimed existed in a certain dialect"
trace - discover traces of; "She traced the circumstances of her birth"
see - observe as if with an eye; "The camera saw the burglary and recorded it"
sight, spy - catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes; "he caught sight of the king's men coming over the ridge"
2.discover - get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally; "I learned that she has two grown-up children"; "I see that you have been promoted"
get the goods - discover some bad or hidden information about; "She got the goods on her co-worker after reading his e-mail"
wise up - get wise to; "They wised up to it"
trip up, catch - detect a blunder or misstep; "The reporter tripped up the senator"
ascertain - learn or discover with certainty
discover, find - make a discovery; "She found that he had lied to her"; "The story is false, so far as I can discover"
witness, see, find - perceive or be contemporaneous with; "We found Republicans winning the offices"; "You'll see a lot of cheating in this school"; "The 1960's saw the rebellion of the younger generation against established traditions"; "I want to see results"
3.discover - make a discovery, make a new finding; "Roentgen discovered X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"
discover, find - make a discovery; "She found that he had lied to her"; "The story is false, so far as I can discover"
ascertain, determine, find out, find - establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; "find the product of two numbers"; "The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize"
conceive, conceptualise, conceptualize, gestate - have the idea for; "He conceived of a robot that would help paralyzed patients"; "This library was well conceived"
detect, discover, notice, observe, find - discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of; "She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water"; "We found traces of lead in the paint"
4.discover - make a discovery; "She found that he had lied to her"; "The story is false, so far as I can discover"
get a line, get wind, get word, hear, learn, discover, find out, pick up, see - get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally; "I learned that she has two grown-up children"; "I see that you have been promoted"
rake up - bring to light; "He raked up the misdeeds of his predecessor"
ferret out, ferret - search and discover through persistent investigation; "She ferreted out the truth"
discover, find - make a discovery, make a new finding; "Roentgen discovered X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"
5.discover - find unexpectedlydiscover - find unexpectedly; "the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb"; "she struck a goldmine"; "The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake"
regain, find - come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost; "Did you find your glasses?"; "I cannot find my gloves!"
6.discover - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secretdiscover - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
blackwash - bring (information) out of concealment
muckrake - explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures; "This reporter was well-known for his muckraking"
blow - cause to be revealed and jeopardized; "The story blew their cover"; "The double agent was blown by the other side"
out - reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle; "The gay actor was outed last week"; "Someone outed a CIA agent"
come out of the closet, out, come out - to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality; "This actor outed last year"
spring - produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; "He sprang these news on me just as I was leaving"
get around, get out, break - be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning"
betray, bewray - reveal unintentionally; "Her smile betrayed her true feelings"
confide - reveal in private; tell confidentially
leak - tell anonymously; "The news were leaked to the paper"
babble out, blab, blab out, let the cat out of the bag, peach, spill the beans, tattle, babble, talk, sing - divulge confidential information or secrets; "Be careful--his secretary talks"
tell - let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late"
reveal - disclose directly or through prophets; "God rarely reveal his plans for Mankind"
7.discover - see for the first time; make a discovery; "Who discovered the North Pole?"
rediscover - discover again; "I rediscovered the books that I enjoyed as a child"
8.discover - identify as in botany or biology, for example
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

discover

verb
1. find out, see, learn, reveal, spot, determine, notice, realize, recognize, perceive, detect, disclose, uncover, discern, ascertain, suss (out) (slang), get wise to (informal) As he discovered, she had a brilliant mind.
2. find, come across, uncover, track down, unearth, turn up, dig up, come upon, chance on, stumble on, bring to light, light upon His body was discovered on a roadside outside the city.
3. invent, develop, come up with, design, pioneer, devise, originate, contrive, hit on, conceive of Scientists discovered a way of forming the image in a thin layer on the surface.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

discover

verb
1. To obtain knowledge or awareness of something not known before, as through observation or study:
2. Archaic. To make visible; bring to view:
Idioms: bring to light, lay open, make plain.
3. Archaic. To disclose in a breach of confidence:
Informal: spill.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
اكتشفيَجِديَكْتَشِفيَكْتَشِفُ
objevitzjistit
opdagefinde ud af
löytää
otkriti
komast aî e-uuppgötva
発見する見付ける
발견하다
atradimas
atklātatrast
odkriti
upptäcka
ค้นพบ
phát hiện

discover

[dɪsˈkʌvəʳ] VT
1. [+ new country, species, talent] → descubrir; [+ object] (after search) → encontrar, hallar
2. (= notice) [+ loss, mistake] → darse cuenta de
I discovered that I'd left it at homeme di cuenta de que lo había dejado en casa
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

discover

[dɪˈskʌvər] vt [+ missing person, body] → découvrir; [+ unknown fact, place] → découvrir; [+ new information] → découvrir; [+ mistake] → s'apercevoir de
to discover that ... (= find out) → se rendre compte que ...
to discover how to do sth → découvrir comment faire qch, apprendre à faire qch
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

discover

vtentdecken; culpritfinden; secret, truthherausfinden; causefeststellen; (after search) house, bookausfindig machen, entdecken; (= notice) mistake, lossfeststellen, bemerken; did you ever discover who …?haben Sie jemals herausgefunden, wer …?
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

discover

[dɪsˈkʌvəʳ] vt (gen) → scoprire; (after search) → scovare, trovare; (notice, loss, mistake) → scoprire, accorgersi di
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

discover

(disˈkavə) verb
1. to find by chance, especially for the first time. Columbus discovered America; Marie Curie discovered radium.
2. to find out. Try to discover what's going on!
disˈcoveryplural disˈcoveries noun
a voyage of discovery; She made several startling discoveries.

We discover something that existed but was not yet known: He discovered a cave .
We invent something that was not in existence: They invented a new machine .
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

discover

يَكْتَشِفُ zjistit opdage entdecken ανακαλύπτω descubrir löytää découvrir otkriti scoprire 発見する 발견하다 ontdekken oppdage odkryć descobrir открывать upptäcka ค้นพบ keşfetmek phát hiện 发现
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
And I was astonished that in spite of the utmost effort of thought along that road I could not discover the meaning of life, the meaning of my impulses and yearnings.
We have no trace of him at present, although our exertions to discover him are unremitted; but they will not restore my beloved William!
So, as chance directed that he should be the one to discover the body of the sentry when the first alarm had been given following Achmet Zek's discovery that Werper had outwitted him, the crafty black had dragged the dead body to the interior of a nearby tent, and himself resumed his station before the doorway of the hut in which he still believed the woman to be.
This has been sufficient to make me alter my purpose of publishing them; for although the reasons by which I had been induced to take this resolution were very strong, yet my inclination, which has always been hostile to writing books, enabled me immediately to discover other considerations sufficient to excuse me for not undertaking the task.
There are some of us now reaching middle age who discover themselves to be lamenting the past in one respect if in none other, that there are no books written now for children comparable with those of thirty years ago.
Norah's next employers may discover you; and Norah may throw up a situation next time which we may never be able to find for her again.
After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow that, if he could only discover the thief who had stolen the Calf, he would offer a lamb in sacrifice to Hermes, Pan, and the Guardian Deities of the forest.
I could plainly discover whence one family derives a long chin; why a second has abounded with knaves for two generations, and fools for two more; why a third happened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be sharpers; whence it came, what Polydore Virgil says of a certain great house, NEC VIR FORTIS, NEC FOEMINA CASTA; how cruelty, falsehood, and cowardice, grew to be characteristics by which certain families are distinguished as much as by their coats of arms; who first brought the pox into a noble house, which has lineally descended scrofulous tumours to their posterity.
"I don't know," returned Tip, who was very nervous at the delay; "but if you will mount into the air I think we can discover which way Glinda has gone."
Ablewhite's family have offered a reward, and no effort has been left untried to discover the guilty persons.
Returning to my hotel, I left no attempt to discover her untried.
We could see them as they filed out of the pass, just for an instant, before they were lost to view behind a friendly ridge; to us a most providential ridge; since, had they been in view for any great length of time, they scarcely could have failed to discover us.