noun

The act of searching in general.

An attempt to find something.

A surname.

verb

(transitive) To look in (a place) for something.

(intransitive, followed by "for") To look thoroughly.

(transitive) To put a phrase into a search engine, especially one besides Google.

(transitive, now rare) To look for, seek.

(transitive, obsolete) To probe or examine (a wound).

(obsolete) To examine; to try; to put to the test.

Roots

circosearch- · Latin · go around, search

Synonyms for search

seekv explorev huntn researchn questn scouringn ransackingn pursuitn lookv explorationn friskn

Synonyms & related words for search

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of search — including seek, explore, hunt, research, quest, scouring. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to search

Explore words related to search — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include lookup, searchers, searchingly, searchable, find, keyword, manhunt, rummaging. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for search

Common synonyms for search include seek, explore, hunt, research, quest, scouring, ransacking, pursuit — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does search come from?

The word search breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root search-, from Latin circo (“go around, search”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.