discovering

Pluraldiscoverings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of discover.

   Discovering the error early saved the company millions of dollars.

   Scientists are discovering new species in the deep ocean every year.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. After a form of be it builds the progressive (scientists are discovering new species), and on its own it works as a gerund that still takes a direct object (discovering the error early). It carries every meaning of discover, including the chess move of discovering a check, the lawyer's questioning of a person in discovery, and the archaic senses of uncovering a head or divulging a secret.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A discovery; the finding or uncovering of something previously unknown.

   The discovering of gold in the region drew thousands of settlers within months.

   Her quiet discovering of the truth changed how she saw the entire family.

   Similarfinding, uncovering, detection, unearthing, realization

   Note

   A true noun, unlike the gerund in the verb form. It takes articles and a plural, as in Fred E. H. Schroeder's 5000 Years of Popular Culture (1980): "all discoverings of the past." The quickest test is the object. The gerund takes one directly (discovering gold), while the noun needs of (the discovering of gold). Discovery says the same thing.

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