Search Meaning
/sɜːt͡ʃ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn attempt to find something.
nounThe act of searching in general.
Sentence Examples
More than 90 percent of visits to a web page are from search engines.
The bear left no stone unturned in his search for fat bugs under the rocks.
A long search for the murder weapon
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rescue team will ____ the entire forest for the lost hiker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The rescue team began to ____ the mountainside for the missing climbers.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos)bor. Late Latin circus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Late Latin -ō Late Latin circō Anglo-Norman sercherbor. Middle English serchen English search Inherited from Middle English serchen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sercher, Old French cerchier, from Late Latin circō, ,circāre (“to circle; go around; search for”), from circus. Unrelated to German suchen, which is cognate with English seek.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"At least eight people died, and officials expressed deep concerns that the toll would rise as more searches of homes were carried out."
— 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 31 Oct 2012:
"Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much."
— 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
"It sufficeth that they have once with care and fairness sifted the matter as far as they could, and searched into all the particulars."
— 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
"He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance.[…]But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again[…]she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side."
— 1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter I, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC:
"Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return."
— 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rescue team will ____ the entire forest for the lost hiker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The rescue team began to ____ the mountainside for the missing climbers.