# search

Pronunciation: say "SURCH" US /sɝt͡ʃ/, UK /sɜːt͡ʃ/

## Noun

1. An act or the activity of looking carefully for someone or something; an attempt to find something.
   - Simple: When you look carefully for someone or something, or try hard to find it.
   - _The search for the missing hiker went on for three days before she was found._
   - _A quick search of the drawers turned up the spare keys._

## Verb

2. To look carefully through a place, or through a person's clothes, pockets or bags, in order to find something there.
   - Simple: To look carefully through a place, or someone's clothes and bags, to find something.
   - _At the airport, security staff may search any passenger who sets off the metal detector._
   - _Volunteers will search the woods at dawn for the lost hiker._
3. To look something up by entering it as a query in a search engine or other search tool, with the query as the object.
   - Simple: To type words into a search engine or website to find information about them.
   - _She searched the phrase on Bing to compare the results._
   - _Many users now search their questions on privacy-focused engines._
4. To look thoroughly for a person or thing in an effort to find it.
   - Simple: To look hard for someone or something that you want to find.
   - _Divers will search for the wreck again once the storms pass._
   - _She is still searching for the letter her grandmother left her._

## Verb

5. To look for or seek someone or something, with the thing sought placed directly after the verb and no for. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To look for something, with the thing you want placed right after the verb, as in old writing.
6. To examine or try something, putting it to the test. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To test or examine something closely.
7. To probe or examine a wound, as to assess its depth or extent. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To probe or check a wound to see how bad it is.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English serchen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sercher and Old French cerchier, from Late Latin circāre ('to circle, go around, search for'), from Latin circa and circus. It is not related to German suchen, which is instead cognate with English 'seek'.

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