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To examine or search thoroughly; to exhaust a remedy against, as against a principal debtor before proceeding against the surety. Burrill.

garded with disfavor. [Obs.] What fables have you vexed, what truth redeemed, Antiquities searched, opinions disesteemed B. Jonson.

th the arguments and facts bearing upon it; elaborate essay; dissertation. For accurate research or grave disquisition he was not well qualified. Macaulay.

guarded. Motley. Domiciliary visit (Law), a visit to a private dwelling, particularly for searching it, under authority.

To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc. Adams had the reputation of having dowsed successfully for more than a hundred wells. Eng. Cyc.

A divining rod used in searching for water, ore, etc., a dowsing rod. [Colloq.]

it; to harrow; to draw a drag along the bottom of, as a stream or other water; hence, to search, as by means of a drag. Then while I dragged my brains for such a song. Tennyson.

e scientific man must keep his feelings under stern control, lest they obtrude into his researches, and color the dry light in which alone science desires to see its objects. J. C. Shairp. -- Dry masonry. See Masonry. -- Dry measure, a system of measures of volume for dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, etc.…

actness or painstaking; as, an elaborate discourse; an elaborate performance; elaborate research. Drawn to the life in each elaborate page. Waller.

by an unexpected escape; to baffle; as, to elude an officer; to elude detection, inquiry, search, comprehension; to elude the force of an argument or a blow. Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain, Then, hid in shades, eludes he eager swain. Pope. The transition from fetichism to polytheism seems a gradual process of w…

of; to pass unobserved by; to evade; as, the fact escaped our attention. They escaped the search of the enemy. Ludlow.

To look or search narrowly; to look about; to watch; to take notice; to spy. Stand by the way, and espy. Jer. xlviii. 19.

To search into the origin of words; to deduce words from their simple roots. How perilous it is to etymologize at random. Trench.

The act of examining, or state of being examined; a careful search, investigation, or inquiry; scrutiny by study or experiment.

a material substance, a fact, a reason, a cause, the truth of a statement; to inquire or search into; to explore; as, to examine a mineral; to examine a ship to know whether she is seaworthy; to examine a proposition, theory, or question. Examine well your own thoughts. Chaucer. Examine their counsels and their cares.…

To fish out; to find out by skill or laborious investigation; to search out. "To expiscate principles." [R.] Nichol. Dr.Burton has with much ingenuity endeavord to expiscate the truth which may be involved in them. W. L. Alexander.

Tending to fish out; searching out [R.] Carlyle.

One who explores; one who examines closely; a searcher.

Serving or intended to explore; searching; examining; explorative. Sir H. Wotton.

To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [Obs.] Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs. Pope.