Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A slender, flexible surgical instrument used to explore a wound or body cavity.
- noun An electrode or other device that can be placed inside something to take and convey measurements.
- noun A substance, such as DNA, that is radioactively labeled or otherwise marked and used to detect or identify another substance in a sample.
- noun A space probe.
- noun An exploratory action or expedition, especially one designed to investigate and obtain information on a remote or unknown region.
- noun The act of exploring or searching with a device or instrument.
- noun An investigation into unfamiliar matters or questionable activities; a penetrating inquiry: synonym: inquiry.
- intransitive verb To penetrate or explore physically, especially with a probe, in order to find or discover something.
- intransitive verb To investigate by means of a chemical probe.
- intransitive verb To make an inquiry about (something); investigate or examine.
- intransitive verb To subject (a person) to questioning; interrogate.
- intransitive verb To make a physical search, especially by penetrating with a probe.
- intransitive verb To pose questions or conduct an investigation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To examine with or as with a probe; explore, as a wound or other cavity, especially of the body: often used of searching for some extraneous object in a part or organ by means of an instrument thrust into it.
- Figuratively, to search to the bottom; scrutinize; examine thoroughly into.
- To prick, as a sealed can, so as to allow the compressed air or gas within to escape.
- noun A proof; a trial; a test.
- noun A printer's proof.
- noun In surgery, a slender flexible rod of silver or other substance for examining the conditions of a wound or other cavity, or the direction of a sinus.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To examine, as a wound, an ulcer, or some cavity of the body, with a probe.
- transitive verb Fig.: to search to the bottom; to scrutinize or examine thoroughly.
- noun (Surg.) An instrument for examining the depth or other circumstances of a wound, ulcer, or cavity, or the direction of a sinus, of for exploring for bullets, for stones in the bladder, etc.
- noun (Surg.) scissors used to open wounds, the blade of which, to be thrust into the orifice, has a button at the end.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a move with multiple answers seeking to make the opponent choose and commit to a strategy
- verb transitive, intransitive To explore, investigate, or
question - verb transitive To insert a probe into.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an investigation conducted using a flexible surgical instrument to explore an injury or a body cavity
- verb examine physically with or as if with a probe
- noun an exploratory action or expedition
- verb question or examine thoroughly and closely
- noun a flexible slender surgical instrument with a blunt end that is used to explore wounds or body cavities
- noun an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word probe.
Examples
-
No one on Earth knows how to communicate with the probe, but upon returning to Earth, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew learn that the probe is attempting to communicate with humpback whales, which have been extinct since the 21st century.
-
Morrison says the word "probe," as in "Let's probe the significance of this," and Colfer says, "Interesting word choice."
The New Yorker Macy Halford 2011
-
The FBI would say only that the raids were part of what it called a probe of "activities concerning the material support of terrorism."
-
The FBI would say only that the raids were part of what it called a probe of "activities concerning the material support of terrorism."
-
The FBI would say only that the raids were part of what it called a probe of "activities concerning the material support of terrorism."
-
However, even if someone in government could be persuaded a far reaching probe is called for, given that under the new Obama administration, RIAA lawyers with clearly vested interests now occupy top DoJ positions, a fair investigation would be an impossibility.
-
CIA probe is 'terrible politics' for Obama, Dem strategist says
-
The probe is ongoing, and each company has agreed to cooperate with it.
Six Freight Forwarders Fined for Price-Fixing Kathy Shwiff 2010
-
The NHTSA probe is called a TQ, for timeliness query.
Toyota delayed almost a year before issuing 2005 steering defect recall 2010
-
First, at the very end, when the probe is going up and everything is suddenly familiar, and an elderly Picard realizes that the probe is off to find someone.
Revisiting Star Trek [Part 2 of 7]: The Next Generation 2009
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.