EXAMINE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Examine

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/ɪgzˈæmɪn/ Listen

verb

Examine v. t. (past & past part. examined; pres. part. examining)

To test by any appropriate method; to inspect carefully with a view to discover the real character or state of; to subject to inquiry or inspection of particulars for the purpose of obtaining a fuller insight into the subject of examination, as a material substance, a fact, a reason, a cause, the truth of a statement; to inquire or search into; to explore; as, to examine a mineral; to examine a ship to know whether she is seaworthy; to examine a proposition, theory, or question. "Examine well your own thoughts." "Examine their counsels and their cares."

To interrogate as in a judicial proceeding; to try or test by question; as, to examine a witness in order to elicit testimony, a student to test his qualifications, a bankrupt touching the state of his property, etc. "The offenders that are to be examined."

Synonyms: To discuss; debate; scrutinize; search into; investigate; explore. See Discuss.

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Etymology of 'Examine'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Examine" Quotes from Famous Books

... pudding. On young Woolwich's last birthday, Mr. Bagnet certainly did, after observing on his growth and general advancement, proceed, in a moment of profound reflection on the changes wrought by time, to examine him in the catechism, accomplishing with extreme accuracy the questions number one and two, "What is your name?" and "Who gave you that name?" but there failing in the exact precision of his memory and substituting for number three the question "And how do you like that name?" which he propounded ...

— Bleak House • Charles Dickens

... reader should examine Cuvier's account of the Manatee, or Manatus, (called from its hands,) and of the Halicore, or Dugong, "from its mammae, called the Mermaid." Concerning this latter Hartwig has the following sentence:—"When they raise themselves with the ...

— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865 • Various

... of their lands and offices, and to part them out among strangers, under cover of English law. He could do this. A smaller man would either have failed to carry out his purposes at all, or he could have carried them out only by reckless violence. When we examine the administration of William more in detail, we shall see that its effects in the long run were rather to preserve than to destroy our ancient institutions. He knew the strength of legal fictions; by legal fictions he conquered and he ...

— William the Conqueror • E. A. Freeman

... Bob wrote a few chapters a propos—Popjoy permitted the use of his name, and I dare say supplied a page here and there—and 'Desperation, or the Fugitive Duchess' made its appearance. The great fun is to examine Popjoy about his own work, of which he doesn't know a word.—I say, Popjoy, what a capital passage that is in Volume Three,—where the Cardinal in disguise, after being converted by the Bishop of London, proposes ...

— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... stood an enormous tree covered with toys and parcels. Several of the children were standing round it in groups, for the most part in silence, as though overawed with the unusual sight. Some of the bolder ones ventured nearer and proceeded to examine the articles hanging upon ...

— Willie the Waif • Minie Herbert

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