discover
Syllables: dis·cov·erUK/dɪˈskʌvə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northern England/dɪˈskʊvə/
discover verb: to find or learn something for the first time.
Verb
discover (third-person singular simple present discovers, present participle discovering, simple past and past participle discovered)
- To find or learn something for the first time.
- Turning the corner, I discovered a lovely little shop. I discovered that they sold widgets.
- All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism.2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
- Synonyms:
- come across, find
- To remove the cover from; to uncover (a head, building etc.).
- He set down his bags beside him, on the beautiful red floor, and he took off his hat, for he had reached his destination, discovering his scant red hair, and laid it on the table beside him.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC
- To expose, uncover.
- The gust of wind discovered a bone in the sand.
- To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.
- This move discovers an attack on a vital pawn.
- To question (a person) as part of discovery in a lawsuit.
- Indeed, the plaintiffs suggest that they may not need to call Ms. Samji at all if they are allowed to discover the defendant on the new documents before any new trial takes place.2019 July 2, Ward K. Branch, “Gordon v. Canada, 2017 FC 454”, in CanLII, retrieved 13 Apr 2021
- To reveal (information); to divulge, make known.
- I discovered my plans to the rest of the team.
- Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover / The several caskets to this noble prince.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- To reconnoitre, explore (an area).
- they seyde the same, and were aggreed that Sir Clegis, Sir Claryon, and Sir Clement the noble, that they sholde dyscover the woodys, bothe the dalys and the downys.1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum ix”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer...
- To manifest without design; to show; to exhibit.
- The scandal of a lie is in a manner lost and annihilated when diffused among several thousands; as a drop of the blackest tincture wears away and vanishes when mixed and confused in a considerable body of water; the blot is still in it, but is not able to discover itself.1712 October 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, October 11, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 507; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume...
- The youth discovered a taste for sculpture.1871, Charles John Smith, Synonyms Discriminated
Proper noun capitalized: Discover
Discover
- Discover Card, a brand of credit card.
- Discover magazine, a general audience science magazine launched in 1980.
discover meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
discover in Hindi
- find something for the first time
- खोज निकालना khoj nikālnā, खोज करना khoj karnā
discover in Tamil
- கண்டறி, கண்டெடு, கண்டுபிடி
discover in Urdu
- find something for the first time
- دَرِیافْت کَرْنا dariyāft karnā
discover in Bengali
- আবিষ্কার করা, আবরণ মুক্ত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- discover in Telugu
- కనిపెట్టు kanipeṭṭu, కనుక్కొను kanukkonu
- discover in Malayalam
- കണ്ടെത്തുക kaṇṭettuka, കണ്ടുപിടിക്കുക kaṇṭupiṭikkuka
- discover in Kannada
- ಕಂಡುಹಿಡಿ, ಆರಯ್ದು ತಿಳಿ, ಪತ್ತೆಹಚ್ಚು, ಶೋಧಿಸು
- discover in Punjabi
- ਕੱਢਣਾ kaḍḍhaṇā
- discover in Odia
- ଆବିଷ୍କାର କରନ୍ତୁ, ଆବିଷ୍କାର କରିବା
- discover in Tagalog
- tuklas, tukyan
- discover in Arabic
- اِكْتَشَفَ iktašafa
- discover in Malay
- menemui
- discover in Persian
- کشف کردن kašf kardan, یافتن yâftan, آشکار کردن âškâr kardan
- discover in Thai
- ค้นพบ kón-póp
- discover in Vietnamese
- phát hiện, phát kiến, khám phá
Examples of discover in a sentence
- Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Adversity”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
- It was in vain to diſcover my Reſentments, which were always turned into Ridicule; and I was forced to reſt with Patience while my noble and moſt beloved Country was ſo injuriouſly treated.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Love of His Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […]...
- John discovered himself to his parents, and Elizabeth to hers, and the wedding-day was soon fixed, and such a wedding was never seen; before or since in the island of Rügen[.]1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 312:
- The English Cooks keep all their Spices in separate boxes, but the French Cooks make a spicey mixture that does not discover a predominancy of any one of the spices over the others.1806, Alexander Hunter, Culina Famulatrix Medicinæ, page 125:
Synonyms of discover
18 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of discover
| third-person singular present | discovers |
|---|---|
| present participle | discovering |
| past participle | discovered |
| past | discovered |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | discoverest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | discoveredst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | discovereth |
| alternative form (obsolete) | discovre |
Origin of discover
From Middle English discoveren, from Old French descovrir, from Late Latin discoperīre < discooperiō, discooperīre, from Latin dis- + cooperiō. Displaced native Old English onfindan.
Trade name, from discover; introduced by Sears in 1985.
Words formed from discover
- codiscover
- discoverability
- discoverable
- -ly → in…
- -ly
- un…
- discovered → nondiscovered
- undiscovered
- discoveree
- discoverer
- discoverment
- discovery → nondiscovery
- misdiscover
- precover
- prediscover
- rediscover
- undiscover
- after-discovered evidence
- discovered attack
- discovered check
Words that rhyme with discover
Questions about discover
- What does discover mean?
- Discover means to find or learn something for the first time.
- What is discover in Hindi?
- Discover in Hindi is खोज निकालना (khoj nikālnā), खोज करना (khoj karnā). See Discover meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use discover in a sentence?
- Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.
- What part of speech is discover?
- Discover can be a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce discover?
- Discover is pronounced /dɪˈskʌvə/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of discover?
- The past tense of discover is discovered.
Words near discover in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: discover (page history and authors); Discover (page history and authors); discover (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discover (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); కనిపెట్టు (Telugu) (page history and authors); കണ്ടുപിടിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); discover (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਕੱਢਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); discover (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-discover.ogg.
Cite this entry: “discover.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discover. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.