find
1. [ verb ] come upon, as if by accident; meet with
Synonyms: encounter hit bump chance happen
Examples:

"We find this idea in Plato" "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here" "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day"

Related terms: discovery meeting
2. [ verb ] discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
Synonyms: observe notice discover detect
Examples:

"She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water" "We found traces of lead in the paint"

Related terms: sight develop trace find_out sense see instantiate discover observation determination discovery perceiver detector discovery discovery notice detection finding observation observation detecting discoverer detector
3. [ verb ] come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost
Synonyms: regain
Examples:

"Did you find your glasses?" "I cannot find my gloves!"

Related terms: lose get locate strike attain rout_up feel recover discovery discoverer
4. [ verb ] come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds
Synonyms: feel
Examples:

: "I feel that he doesn't like me" "I find him to be obnoxious" "I found the movie rather entertaining"

Related terms: reason conclude rule
5. [ verb ] after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
Synonyms: determine find_out ascertain
Examples:

"find the product of two numbers" "The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize"

Related terms: count situate refract admeasure gauge translate sequence redetermine rectify discover determine decision determination
6. [ verb ] perceive with any or all of one's senses
Synonyms: see witness
Examples:

"We found Republicans winning the offices" "You'll see a lot of cheating in this school" give rise to or be characterized by "The 1960 saw the rebellion of the younger generation" "I want to see results"

Related terms: experience catch learn spectator
7. [ verb ] get something or somebody for a specific purpose
Synonyms: line_up come_up get_hold
Examples:

"I found this gadget that will serve as a bottle opener" "I got hold of these tools to fix our plumbing" "The chairman got hold of a secretary on Friday night to type the urgent letter"

Related terms: get
8. [ verb ] make a discovery, make a new finding
Synonyms: discover
Examples:

"Roentgen discovered X-rays" "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"

Related terms: conceive detect determine discover discovery discovery finding inventor
9. [ verb ] make a discovery
Synonyms: discover
Examples:

"She found that he had lied to her" "The story is false, so far as I can discover"

Related terms: learn ferret rake_up ferret_out learn discover discovery discovery
10. [ verb ] decide on and make a declaration about
Synonyms: rule
Examples:

"find someone guilty"

Related terms: pronounce finding
11. [ verb ] obtain through effort or management
Examples:

"She found the time and energy to take care of her aging parents" "We found the money to send our sons to college"

Related terms: get
12. [ verb ] receive a specified treatment (abstract)
Synonyms: get receive obtain incur
Examples:

"These aspects of civilization do not find expression or receive an interpretation" "His movie received a good review" "I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions"

Related terms: change take get
13. [ verb ] perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place
Examples:

"I found myself in a difficult situation" "When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital room"

Related terms: perceive witness
14. [ verb ] accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation
Synonyms: find_oneself
Examples:

"My son went to Berkeley to find himself"

Related terms: mature
15. [ verb ] get or find back; recover the use of
Synonyms: retrieve recover regain
Examples:

"She regained control of herself" "She found her voice and replied quickly"

Related terms: get access restitution recovery
16. [ verb ] succeed in reaching; arrive at
Examples:

"The arrow found its mark"

Related terms: reach
17. [ noun ] (psychology) a productive insight
Synonyms: discovery breakthrough
Related terms: insight learn discover discover
18. [ verb ] become aware of who one is and what one wants to do in life
Examples:

"My son went to Berkeley to find himself"

Related terms: reach recognize
19. [ noun ] the act of discovering something
Synonyms: discovery uncovering
Related terms: deed determination detection breakthrough rediscovery self-discovery detect learn discover discover strike discover
Similar spelling:   fiend
  fined