Word.ws English Dictionary

discovered

Syllables: dis·cov·eredUK/dɪsˈkʌvəd//dɪsˈkʌvɚd/

discovered is the simple past and past participle of discover.

Meaning of discover

Verb

discover (third-person singular simple present discovers, present participle discovering, simple past and past participle discovered)

  1. (transitive) To find or learn something for the first time.
    • Turning the corner, I discovered a lovely little shop. I discovered that they sold widgets.
    Synonyms:
    come across, find
  2. (obsolete, transitive) 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
  3. (archaic, transitive) To expose, uncover.
    • The gust of wind discovered a bone in the sand.
    Synonyms:
    expose, reveal, uncover
  4. (transitive) To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.
    • This move discovers an attack on a vital pawn.
  5. (transitive) 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
  6. (archaic, transitive) To reveal (information); to divulge, make known.
    • I discovered my plans to the rest of the team.

See all 10 meanings of discover

Words formed from discovered

Phrases with discovered

Questions about discovered

What is discovered the simple past and past participle of?
Discovered is the simple past and past participle of discover.
How do you pronounce discovered?
Discovered is pronounced /dɪsˈkʌvəd/ (UK).

Words near discovered in the dictionary

  1. discoverabilities
  2. discoverability
  3. discoverable
  4. discoverableness
  5. discoverably
  6. discovered
  7. discovered attack
  8. discovered attacks
  9. discovered check
  10. discovered checks
  11. discoveredst

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: discovered (page history and authors); discover (page history and authors). 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-discovered.ogg.

Cite this entry: “discovered.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discovered. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.