Search the Dictionary

To look over or through, for the purpose of finding something; to examine; to explore; as, to search the city. "Search the Scriptures." John v. 39. They are come to search the house. Shak. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Ps. cxxxix. 23.

One who, or that which, searhes or examines; a seeker; an inquirer; an examiner; a trier. Specifically:

One who examines himself; one given to self-examination. The humiliated self-examinant feels that there is evil in our nature as well as good. Coleridge.

To examine critically or minutely; to scrutinize. Sifting the very utmost sentence and syllable. Hooker. Opportunity I here have had To try thee, sift thee. Milton. Let him but narrowly sift his ideas. I. Taylor. To sift out, to search out with care, as if by sifting.

Fig.: To read or examine superficially and rapidly, in order to cull the principal facts or thoughts; as, to skim a book or a newspaper.

means of a magic lantern, stereopticon, or the like; a plate on which is an object to be examined with a microscope.

To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. I was in jest, And by that offer meant to sound your breast. Dryden. I've sounded my Numidians man by man. Addison.

To explore; to view; inspect; and examine secretly, as a country; -- usually with out. Moses sent to spy Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof. Num. xxi. 32.

privy council only with the addition of certain judges. It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it could apply torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641. Encyc. Brit.

examining the organs of the chest, as the heart and lungs, by conveying to the ear of the examiner the sounds produced in the thorax.

One who studies or examines in any manner; an attentive and systematic observer; as, a student of human nature, or of physical nature.

Closely examined; read with diligence and attention; made the subject of study; well considered; as, a studied lesson.

To apply the mind to; to read and examine for the purpose of learning and understanding; as, to study law or theology; to study languages.

To view with a scrutinizing eye; to examine. With such altered looks, . . . All pale and speechless, he surveyed me round. Dryden.

One who views and examines for the purpose of ascertaining the condition, quantity, or quality of anything; as, a surveyor of highways, ordnance, etc.

To examine, as the thickness of the metal at the muzzle of a gun; or, in general, to examine the thickness of, as ordnance, in order to ascertain its strength.

To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent; as, to test a solution by litmus paper.

on a drawing or a picture. Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design. Dryden.

One who tries; one who makes experiments; one who examines anything by a test or standard. Boyle.

o prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test; as, to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a man's opinions. Let the end try the man. Shak.