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examine

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihgzamin

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪɡˈzæmɪn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect

    “The customs agent examined the baggage.”

  2. To observe or inspect carefully or critically.

  3. To check the health or condition of something or someone.

  4. To determine the aptitude, skills or qualifications of someone by subjecting them to an examination.

  5. To interrogate.

noun

  1. informal

    An act of examining.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect

Used this way, examine is a common word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It quietly approves while staying precise.

Heard in a sentence
“The customs agent examined the baggage.”
Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Common
Connotation
Careful and exacting
Usage feel
Precise and approving

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use examine

  • “The customs agent examined the baggage.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

now examinecarefully examine

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • examinernounInflected form

    Someone who administers a test to determine your qualifications.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • examinationnounDerived noun

    The act of examining something closely (as for mistakes).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cross-examinernounCompound term

    Someone who questions a witness carefully (especially about testimony given earlier).

  • cross examineverbCompound term

    Question closely, or question a witness that has already been questioned by the opposing side.

  • medical examinernounCompound term

    A public official who investigates by inquest any death not due to natural causes.

  • re-examineverbCompound term

    Question after cross-examination by opposing counsel.

  • bank examinernounCompound term

    An examiner appointed to audit the accounts of banks in a given jurisdiction.

  • hearing examinernounCompound term

    An official appointed by a government agency to conduct an investigation or administrative hearing so that the agency can exercise its statutory powers.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: observe or check out or and look over carefully

prove

noun

Sense: examining

studytest

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.