# probe

Pronunciation: say "PROHB" US /pɹoʊb/, UK /pɹəʊb/

## Noun

1. An investigation or formal inquiry made to uncover the facts about something.
   - Simple: An official attempt to find out the truth about something, often by police or reporters.
   - _The senate launched a probe into the failed bank deal._
   - _Reporters demanded a probe after the leaked documents surfaced._
3. A medical instrument used to explore wounds, organs, and other parts of the body.
   - Simple: A thin medical tool used to look inside a wound or part of the body.
   - _The doctor passed a probe along the wound to find the depth of the injury._
   - _A blunt probe is often used to examine a sinus tract without causing damage._
4. A small craft sent into space, typically with no one aboard, to collect data and measurements about its surroundings.
   - Simple: A small spacecraft, usually with no crew, sent to gather information about space.
   - _The probe entered orbit around Saturn after a seven-year journey._
   - _Engineers lost contact with the probe shortly after it reached the asteroid belt._
5. A small device, especially an electrode, used to measure or investigate something by penetrating it or being placed in it.
   - Simple: A small device, such as an electrode, that measures something when placed in or pushed into it.
   - _Researchers inserted a fine probe into the cell membrane to record voltage changes._
   - _The temperature probe was calibrated before each reading._
7. A single act of probing, such as a prod or a poke.
   - Simple: A single poke or prod made to feel or test something.
   - _She gave the soft soil a quick probe with her finger._
   - _A gentle probe at the bruise made him wince._
8. Something that penetrates something else as if to explore it, or that serves to obtain information.
   - Simple: Something that pushes into something else to explore it or to get information.
   - _Her careful question was a probe into his real intentions._
   - _The journalist's article worked as a probe into the firm's hidden finances._
9. A group of atoms or molecules whose radioactive labeling allows a particular molecule or other structure to be studied.
   - Simple: A group of atoms or molecules marked with radioactivity and used to study another molecule.
   - _The labeled probe hybridized to the complementary strand, revealing the gene's position._
   - _Each probe carries a radioactive marker that lets the target molecule be tracked._
10. A tube attached to an aircraft that fits into the drogue trailed by a tanker aircraft to allow for aerial refueling.
   - Simple: A tube on an aircraft that fits into a basket from a tanker plane to take in fuel while flying.
   - _The pilot eased the probe into the trailing drogue to begin the transfer._
   - _A bent probe forced the fighter to abort its mid-air refueling._
11. A fictional instrument that aliens are imagined to use on the humans they abduct.
   - Simple: A made-up tool that aliens are said to use on the people they take.
   - _The film's aliens strapped their captive down and reached for a probe._
   - _She laughed off the abduction story, joking about the dreaded probe._
12. In the game of Go, a move with several possible replies, played to force the opponent to choose and commit to a strategy.
   - Simple: In the game Go, a move that forces your opponent to pick a plan and stick to it.
   - _He slipped in a probe before deciding how to build his own framework._
   - _Her probe in the lower right drew out a response that fixed black's shape._

## Verb

2. To explore, investigate, or question something closely in order to learn more about it.
   - Simple: To examine or question something closely to learn the truth about it.
   - _Reporters probe deep into government spending every year._
   - _Scientists want to probe the origins of the disease._
6. To insert a probe into something, usually to examine or measure it.
   - Simple: To put a thin tool inside something so you can examine it.
   - _Engineers probe the pipe whenever they suspect a hidden leak._
   - _The dentist probed the gum to check for infection._

## Origin

The verb was borrowed from Latin "probare" ("to test, examine, prove"), from "probus" ("good"), making it a doublet of "prove." The noun was borrowed from Late Latin "proba" ("a proof"), also from "probare," and is a doublet of "proof."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/probe (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).