1917 Therapeutic Gaz. 15 Dec. 884/2 A radical operation performed ten days after an exploratory is almost never successful in curing cancer of the breast.

1954 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 87 755/2 In fifty or 10 per cent of the patients surgery other than biliary tract or appendectomy was done as follows:..two exploratories, [etc.].

1984 A. F. Loewenstein This Place 90 Now that he knows the result of my exploratory I'm sure he'll be much easier to live with.

2008 Jrnl. Equine Vet. Sci. 28 549/2 Cryptorchid castration, inguinal herniorrhaphy, ovariectomy, tissue biopsies, and abdominal exploratories can be completed laparoscopically with horses under general anesthesia.

1982 Times 17 May 3/2 [Professor Gregory's] scheme proposes the establishment of an ‘exploratory’, a centre at which visitors would learn about science not by looking at exhibits but by actually performing experiments, operating computers and using information banks.

1986 R. Gregory Hands-on Sci. i. 11 As the usual museum terms, such as ‘exhibit’, are too passive for the Exploratory's ‘hands-on’ approach, we have coined the word ‘plore’, meaning a model, an experiment, or a problem to explore.

1988 Independent 1 Aug. 6/4 Professor Gregory wants to transform the castle and the buildings on site into an Exploratory.

2014 G. Durant in L. Tan Wee Hin & R. Subramaniam Communicating Sci. to Public ii. 84 The Bristol Exploratory..and Techniquest in Cardiff..are examples of science centres set up through the personal passion and drive of university academics.

1620 H. Wotton in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 507 This is but an exploratory, and pretentative purpose between us.

1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 501 When God seems to delay..before he comes with the mercy he promiseth, and we pray for; 'tis exploratory to faith.

1692 Bp. E. Hopkins Expos. Lord's Prayer 123 There is an Exploratory Temptation, to search out and discover what is in Man.

1828 Edinb. Rev. 48 429 Early in this century..remarkable exploratory zeal arose.

1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. xlviii. 448 A new kind of military chaplet..to which he gave the name of the crown exploratory.

1880 Standard 20 Mar. 7/1 The works were chiefly of an exploratory nature.

1961 Pop. Mech. Mar. 112 This spaceship would contain a huge 80,000-pound pay load, including about four tons of exploratory equipment.

2009 R. D. V. Glasgow Concept of Water iii. 185 Civilians found themselves newly equipped with state-of-the-art exploratory gear, which they proceeded to use for such purposes as rescuing shipwrecks.

1828 tr. A. Vidal in London Med. Gaz. 27 Sept. 521/2 This first incision, which may be called the exploratory, and which is small, in comparison to the lateral operation, is often sufficient to complete the extraction; for having recognized a calculus of small size the extraction may be made with a pair of forceps.

1841 Madras Q. Med. Jrnl. 3 29 On examination of the body after death, two abscesses were found situated high up on the under and posterior surface of the right lobe [of the liver], beyond the reach of the Trochar or Exploratory needle.

1891 Spectator 11 July 33/2 An exploratory operation..to find out whether or not it would be possible to remove a tumour.

1908 Illinois Med. Jrnl. 13 574 The uterine exploratory sound ought not to be used, as a rule.

1924 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 22 Mar. 514/2 The operation of exploratory laparotomy is largely a recent development of surgery.

1987 Jrnl. Trauma 27 806 Pneumopericardium associated with penetrating chest trauma warrants thorough exploratory surgery to rule out direct cardiac injury.

2007 Horse & Rider Oct. 75/3 He had a suspensory ligament strain, which resulted in inflammation and lameness. And exploratory surgery was the only way of telling how bad the problem was.

1877 J. J. L. Ratton Hand-bk. Common Salt x. 95 Eight exploratory wells, sunk in different directions to examine the soil and sub-soil, &c., cut from above downwards through the different soils, [are] shown in the subjoined columns.

1922 A. Blum Petroleum ii. ii. 75 One should not, ordinarily, expect too great results from the first exploratory well drilled upon any lease.

2008 Oil & Gas Jrnl. (Nexis) 12 May 37 Several of the..‘unsuccessful’ exploratory wells may be on the edge of potentially productive structures.