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find

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To encounter or discover something being searched for.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fynd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfaɪnd

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. transitive

    To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.

  2. transitive

    To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.

  3. ditransitive

    To locate on behalf of another.

  4. transitive

    To gain, as the object of desire or effort.

  5. transitive

    To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

  6. transitive

    To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.

noun

  1. The act of finding.

  2. Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.

Used this way, find is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

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

More ways to use find

  • “We find this idea in Plato.”verb

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • findingnounInflected form

    The act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation.

  • findernounInflected form

    Someone who comes upon something after searching.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • find outverbCompound term

    Establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study.

  • finding of factnounCompound term

    The findings of a jury on issues of fact submitted to it for decision.

  • finding of lawnounCompound term

    A finding as to the applicability of a rule of law to particular facts.

  • find faultverbCompound term

    Harass with constant criticism.

  • find oneselfverbCompound term

    Accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation.

  • range findernounCompound term

    A measuring instrument (acoustic or optical or electronic) for finding the distance of an object.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • finder's feenounRelated term

    A fee that is paid to someone who finds a source of financial backing or to someone who brings people together for business purposes.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to encounter or discover something being searched for

detectascertainchancefind outArchaic

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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.