Library / English Dictionary

FIND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: found   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of discovering something

Synonyms:

discovery; find; uncovering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("find" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "find"):

tracing (the discovery and description of the course of development of something)

catching; detection; espial; spotting; spying (the act of detecting something; catching sight of something)

self-discovery (discovering your own individuality)

breakthrough (making an important discovery)

determination; finding (the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation)

rediscovery (the act of discovering again)

Derivation:

find (make a discovery)

find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

find (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

find (come upon, as if by accident; meet with)

find (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A productive insight

Synonyms:

breakthrough; discovery; find

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("find" is a kind of...):

brainstorm; brainwave; insight (the clear (and often sudden) understanding of a complex situation)

Derivation:

find (establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study)

find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation

Example:

My son went to Berkeley to find himself

Synonyms:

find; find oneself

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

grow; maturate; mature (develop and reach maturity; undergo maturation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Receive a specified treatment (abstract)

Example:

I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions

Synonyms:

find; get; incur; obtain; receive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

take (ascertain or determine by measuring, computing or take a reading from a dial)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds

Example:

I found the movie rather entertaining

Synonyms:

feel; find

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

conclude; reason; reason out (decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion)

Verb group:

find; rule (decide on and make a declaration about)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They find that there was a traffic accident

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a discovery

Example:

The story is false, so far as I can discover

Synonyms:

discover; find

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see (get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally)

Verb group:

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

rake up (bring to light)

ferret; ferret out (search and discover through persistent investigation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Also:

find out (get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally)

Derivation:

find (the act of discovering something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study

Example:

The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize

Synonyms:

ascertain; determine; find; find out

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Verb group:

ascertain; check; determine; find out; learn; see; watch (find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort)

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

locate; situate (determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey)

admeasure (determine the quantity of someone's share)

count; enumerate; number; numerate (determine the number or amount of)

refract (determine the refracting power of (a lens))

sequence (determine the order of constituents in)

redetermine (fix, find, or establish again)

rectify (math: determine the length of)

translate (determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA)

gauge (determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Derivation:

find (a productive insight)

finding (something that is found)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Decide on and make a declaration about

Example:

find someone guilty

Synonyms:

find; rule

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

judge; label; pronounce (pronounce judgment on)

Verb group:

feel; find (come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

finding (the decision of a court on issues of fact or law)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Make a discovery, make a new finding

Example:

Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle

Synonyms:

discover; find

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

conceive; conceptualise; conceptualize; gestate (have the idea for)

Verb group:

detect; discover; find; notice; observe (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

ascertain; determine; find; find out (establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study)

discover; find (make a discovery)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

finding (something that is found)

find (a productive insight)

find (the act of discovering something)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Succeed in reaching; arrive at

Example:

The arrow found its mark

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

arrive at; attain; gain; hit; make; reach (reach a destination, either real or abstract)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Perceive or be contemporaneous with

Example:

I want to see results

Synonyms:

find; see; witness

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

experience; go through; see (undergo or live through a difficult experience)

Verb group:

discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see (get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally)

find (perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

catch (become aware of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

finder (someone who is the first to observe something)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of

Example:

We found traces of lead in the paint

Synonyms:

detect; discover; find; notice; observe

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

sight; spy (catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes)

Verb group:

discover; find (make a discovery, make a new finding)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

catch out; find out (trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act)

sense (detect some circumstance or entity automatically)

instantiate (find an instance of (a word or particular usage of a word))

trace (discover traces of)

see (observe as if with an eye)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

find (the act of discovering something)

finder (someone who is the first to observe something)

finding (the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation)

finding (something that is found)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place

Example:

When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital room

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Verb group:

find; see; witness (perceive or be contemporaneous with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 12

Meaning:

Obtain through effort or management

Example:

We found the money to send our sons to college

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Verb group:

find; regain (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 13

Meaning:

Get something or somebody for a specific purpose

Example:

The chairman got hold of a secretary on Friday night to type the urgent letter

Synonyms:

come up; find; get hold; line up

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 14

Meaning:

Get or find back; recover the use of

Example:

She found her voice and replied quickly

Synonyms:

find; recover; regain; retrieve

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Verb group:

find; regain (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

access (obtain or retrieve from a storage device; as of information on a computer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 15

Meaning:

Come upon, as if by accident; meet with

Example:

She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day

Synonyms:

bump; chance; encounter; find; happen

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They find the money in the closet

Derivation:

find (the act of discovering something)

finder (someone who is the first to observe something)

Sense 16

Meaning:

Come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost

Example:

I cannot find my gloves!

Synonyms:

find; regain

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "find" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Verb group:

find (obtain through effort or management)

find; recover; regain; retrieve (get or find back; recover the use of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "find"):

feel (find by testing or cautious exploration)

locate; turn up (discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining)

attain; chance on; chance upon; come across; come upon; discover; fall upon; happen upon; light upon; strike (find unexpectedly)

rout out; rout up (get or find by searching)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They find the money in the closet

Antonym:

lose (miss from one's possessions; lose sight of)

Derivation:

find (the act of discovering something)

finder (someone who is the first to observe something)

finder (someone who comes upon something after searching)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The cub found no more milk in his mother's breast, nor did he get one mouthful of meat for himself.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“I have been robbed,” I said to him, a little later, when I found him pacing up and down the poop alone.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

You find yourself insensibly twisting them round to fit your theories.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A visit to the bank, where several thousand pounds were found to be lying to the murderer’s credit, completed his gratification.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Second point, we have time before us—at least until this treasure's found.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

For me it was only a pleasure outing, but I could see, as we drew near the house, that Jim was troubling in his mind lest we should find that things were amiss.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That was why, being fond and hot-headed, I left the world; and that is why, having had time to take thought, I am right glad to find myself back in it once more.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The galaxy is the most luminous galaxy found to date and belongs to a new class of objects recently discovered by WISE — extremely luminous infrared galaxies, or ELIRGs.

(The Most Luminous Galaxy in Universe, NASA)