Word.ws English Dictionary

examining

Syllables: ex·am·in·ing/ɪɡˈzæmɪnɪŋ/

examining is the present participle and gerund of examine.

Meaning of examine

Verb

examine (third-person singular simple present examines, present participle examining, simple past and past participle examined)

  1. (transitive) To observe carefully or critically to learn about someone or something.
    • He examined the crime scene for clues.
    Synonyms:
    canvass
  2. (transitive) To check the health or condition of something or someone.
    • The doctor examined the patient.
  3. (transitive) To determine the aptitude, skills or qualifications of someone by subjecting them to an examination.
  4. (transitive) To interrogate.
    • The witness was examined under oath.

See all 5 meanings of examine

Adjective

examining (comparative more examining, superlative most examining)

  1. Tending to examine or engaged in close examination; studiously observant.
    • How shall we be sure that we have justly quitted REASON, as too high and dangerous, too aspiring or presumptive; if thro' Fear of any kind, or submitting to mere Command we quit our very examining Thought, and in the moment stop short, so as to put an end to further Thinking on the matter?1732, Anthony Ashley Cooper Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, page 299
    • Those however on whom he wanted to pass, were not of either a very examining strain, or very nice discernment: Besides that, he had such a glow of freshness, health, and vigor, so rare among the parboiled people of quality, as somewhat counterbalanced any suspicion the discordance of his looks from...1765, John Cleland, The Surprises of Love, Exemplified in the Romance of a Day, page 7

Noun

examining (plural examinings)

  1. examination
    • The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of the footings of the bookkeeper.1866, Thomas Belknap, testimony, in Gillian & Gillian v. Clark, Supreme Court, County of New York (page 111)

Forms of examining

Adjective
comparativemore examining
superlativemost examining
Noun
pluralexaminings

Words formed from examining

Phrases with examining

Questions about examining

What does examining mean?
Examining means tending to examine or engaged in close examination; studiously observant.
What is examining the present participle and gerund of?
Examining is the present participle and gerund of examine.
What part of speech is examining?
Examining can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce examining?
Examining is pronounced /ɪɡˈzæmɪnɪŋ/.

Words near examining in the dictionary

  1. examinerships
  2. examines
  3. examinest
  4. examing
  5. examinin'
  6. examining
  7. examining justice
  8. examining magistrate
  9. examining room
  10. examining rooms
  11. examiningly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: examining (page history and authors); examine (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.

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