discoverdis‧cov‧er /dɪsˈkʌvə $ -ər/ ●●● S2 W1 verb [transitive] 
The body was discovered in a field. Forest Service crews often discover campfires that have not been put out completely.► see thesaurus at find2to find out something that you did not know about before: The exercises let students discover math concepts on their own.discover (that) She discovered that she was pregnant.discover who/what/how etc His friends were shocked to discover how ill he was.GRAMMARIn more formal English, you say it is discovered that something is true: · It was discovered that lightning was electrical.3if someone discovers a new place, fact, substance etc, they are the first person to find it or know that it exists: The Curies are best known for discovering radium.4to notice or try something for the first time and start to enjoy it: At fourteen, Louise discovered boys.5to notice someone who is very good at something and help them to become successful and well known: a band that’s waiting to be discovered—discoverer noun [countable]
WORD ORIGINdiscover
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French descovrir, from Late Latin discooperire ‘to uncover’VERB TABLE
discover
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | discover |
| he, she, it | discovers | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | discovered |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have discovered |
| he, she, it | has discovered | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had discovered |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will discover |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have discovered |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am discovering |
| he, she, it | is discovering | |
| you, we, they | are discovering | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was discovering |
| you, we, they | were discovering | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been discovering |
| he, she, it | has been discovering | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been discovering |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be discovering |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been discovering |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Australian researchers have discovered a substance in coffee that acts like morphine.
- Fire officers are still trying to discover the cause of the fire.
- I began to learn the guitar, and discovered that I was pretty good at it.
- Police discovered 500 pounds of dynamite in the house.
- She discovered the job wasn't as easy as it might seem.
- She used to go to Hollywood parties, hoping to be discovered.
- The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930.
- The two girls were inseparable until Veronica discovered boys.
- The Vikings may have discovered America long before Columbus.
- They never discovered who the murderer was.
- I have at last discovered the true secret to quitting smoking.
- It discovered that social problems-issues of motivation, attitude, and expectations-were a greater obstacle than lack of programs.
- Okay, a scientist reports the measurement of the temperature of a new discovered planet to be minus point eight degrees.
- Only after users discovered the flaw and began discussing it on the Internet did Intel admit the problem.
- Soon after hitting the water, I saw a Hurricane above me which I discovered later was Barber.
- The basic information they needed had been discovered more than two centuries before.
THESAURUS
to get or see something that you have been searching for: · Have you found your passport yet?· Police later found the car abandoned in a wood.
to find something that was hidden or that people did not know about before: · A second bomb has been discovered in south London.
formal to find the exact position of something: · The airline are still trying to locate my luggage.· Online maps make it easy to locate almost any place in the world.
to find something unexpectedly when you are not looking for it: · I came across some old letters from my father in my drawer.
to find something unexpectedly, especially something very important: · They may have stumbled across some vital evidence.· Completely by chance we had stumbled on the biggest hit of the year.
to find someone or something that has disappeared, especially by a careful process of collecting information: · She had given up all hope of tracing her missing daughter.
to find someone or something that is difficult to find by searching in different places: · I’ve been trying to track down a book that’s out of print.· The police managed to track down the killer.
to find something that has been hidden or lost for a long time, by digging or searching for it: · In 1796, a carved stone was unearthed near the burial mound.
Longman Language Activatorto find something new and important to find something important that no one knew about before, especially information or a way of doing something: · Medical researchers are determined to find a cure for cancer.· It's crucial that we find cleaner ways of generating electricity.· Bodies up to 2,000 years old have been found buried in the peat bogs of central England.
to find an object, a substance, a place, information etc, that is important and that no one knew about before: · The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930.· Australian researchers have discovered a substance in coffee that acts like morphine.
to find something important, interesting, or surprising that no one knew about before: · Hawking made many discoveries about the nature of stars.· Carlo Rubbia, who led the team of scientists that made the discovery, received the Nobel prize in 1984.· Amazing discoveries have been made by anthropologists excavating in the Rift Valley.· An important discovery was made by Mendel in the mid-nineteenth century.
to find something that was hidden or kept secret for a long time, especially information: · Investigators have unearthed new evidence about the possible cause of the crash.· The incredible story was unearthed by reporters at the "Post".· His research unearthed new information about the origins of the HIV virus.
to find something interesting or useful, especially information, while you are searching carefully: · After seven months on the case, the police failed to turn up any real clues.· A thorough examination of the company's account books turned up several interesting facts.
to find out about something to get information about something, either by chance or by deliberately trying to get it: · "Do you have these shoes in size 8?" "I'm not sure - I'll just go and find out."· When we found out the price we were shocked.find out what/where/whether etc: · I'll go and find out which platform the train leaves from.· Dad was really mad at me when he found out where I'd been.find out about: · He's trying to find out about Japanese classes in the area.find out something/find something out: · Could you find out his address for me, please?· "John's been married twice." "How did you find that out?"find out (that): · She found out that her husband was having an affair.
to find something out, especially something that is surprising or something that is difficult to find out. Discover is more formal than find out: · Fire officers are still trying to discover the cause of the fire.discover (that): · I began to learn the guitar, and discovered that I was pretty good at it.· She discovered the job wasn't as easy as it might seem.discover how/why/what etc: · They never discovered who the murderer was.
especially spoken to get the information that you want by going somewhere to look, or by doing something and noticing what happens: · "Is he ready yet?" "I don't know - I'll go and see."see if/whether: · See if the rice is done while you're in the kitchen, will you?see how/where/what etc: · Can you see who's at the door?· Let's see what happens if we add some oil.
to know about something because someone has told you, you have read about it, seen it on television etc: · "Nina's quit her job." "Yes, so I've heard."hear about: · How did you hear about our company?· We've heard such a lot about you from our daughter.hear (that): · I hear you're moving to Toronto.hear whether/if: · When will you hear whether you've got the job?hear what/why/how etc: · I suppose you've heard what happened?
to find out about something because someone tells you: be told (that): · He was told that Anna had left some time ago.· Visitors have been told the building will be used as a museum.so I'm told spoken: · "Is it true that she's moving to Hollywood?" "So I'm told."
especially written to find out a fact or find out that something is true, especially by asking questions: find that: · We found that, despite their poverty, very few people wanted to leave the area.· Researchers found that smokers were more likely to get depressed than non-smokers.
to find out something because someone tells you, you read it somewhere etc: · I doubt if we will ever learn the truth.learn of/about: · She learned of her mother's death when it was announced on the radio.learn (that): · Several months ago, McNair learned that he had cancer.
to know a piece of information because that is what you hear people saying and not because you have been told it directly: gather (that): · I gather you've decided not to resign after all.· Despite my limited Spanish, I gathered that there was a problem with my passport.from what somebody can gather (=according to what I have found out): · From what I can gather, there has been fighting further down the valley.
formal if something such as a problem or a mistake comes to someone's attention or notice , that person finds out about it, especially because someone else tells them about it: · Illegal trading first came to the attention of top management in late April.come to sb's attention/notice that: · It has come to my notice that your account is overdrawn by £200.
to find out about something because the information has been passed on from one person to another in conversation: · "How did you find out she was leaving?" "I heard it through the grapevine."hear through/on the grapevine that: · I heard on the grapevine that Josie and Tom are expecting a baby.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Visitors are often amazed to discover how little the town has changed. Ruth was dismayed to see how thin he had grown. She was disturbed to learn he had bought a motorbike. They had been shocked to hear that the hospital was closing down.
Visitors are often amazed to discover how little the town has changed.· An investigation has failed to discover the cause of the epidemic.
· This is the first official investigation to find a connection.
· Scientists are still hoping to find a cure for the common cold.
Ruth was dismayed to see how thin he had grown. She was disturbed to learn he had bought a motorbike.· We were shocked when we discovered the extent of the fraud.
· He only discovered his sister’s fate after the war.
(=find a particular gene which is responsible for something)· Scientists have identified a gene which seems to protect Chinese people from some types of cancer.
· The police have yet to discover the victim’s identity.
· Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938.· How does a company go about finding oil and getting it from the ground?
· They didn’t suspect that their plot had been uncovered.
· He was afraid that someone would discover his secret.
They had been shocked to hear that the hospital was closing down.· She was determined to find out the truth.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· But he soon discovered how hard it is to rein-in affairs of the heart.· Research may well be undertaken to discover how effective it is proving.· The problem is to discover how these familiar zones are bounded and how they are crossed.· While Kinsey discovered how many people were doing what, Masters and Johnson explained what happened when they did it.· In his second hundred days, he will have to discover how to turn his ideas into lasting achievements.· He sees that Shakespeare discovered how he might use analogy and metaphor as themost acute representation of a mind engaged in thought.· There was no need to rush about trying to discover how it was done.
· The invoice for the painting described it as being by Munter, but was later discovered to be a forgery.· She escapes and later discovers that her attacker is a suspected serial killer.· I later discovered the truth of the Goring matter from Masko.· Janie was surprised when she discovered later that all food did not arrive in paste form.· Soon after hitting the water, I saw a Hurricane above me which I discovered later was Barber.· It was later discovered that Granato actually picked up assist No. 200 Friday night.· And, as I came to discover later, a genuine feel for a story.· One can imagine his excitement when he later discovered the similarities in progression between the hexagrams and his own binary arithmetic.
· This has galleries on two levels, the lower one for the recently discovered paintings, the upper one for temporary exhibitions.· A key chemical messenger in this process is leptin, a recently discovered hormone made by fat cells.· The company also shared in new output from the Angus field and has an interest in the recently discovered Fife field.· A second problem emerged with the need to construct lightweight vessels to contain the recently discovered gas helium.· Three bodies were recently discovered at Simrudu police station, close to where the 15 villagers were murdered.· Morrison said Apple had recently discovered flawed chips on the computers' main circuit boards could make them freeze up.· I only recently discovered her connection with this place, and that was by accident.
· But Oppenheimer soon discovered that physicist I. I. Rabi and others balked at militarization.· Any computer user soon discovers that sometimes hardware, and more often software, is extremely fallible.· As the prince soon discovers, even this severe sentence is insufficient to suppress the quarrel.· Brandt's secret method of preparation was soon discovered.· But Joe soon discovered that naval officials in Rangoon had no record of his Kunming telegram.· I soon discovered she had her dates right and she was premature.· It was soon discovered, by conversation, that it was a bloodless battle.
NOUN· He discovered the body, and we called the police.· Horrified customs authorities discovered the bodies.· It was in the third to be opened that they discovered Pierre Fontaine's body.· On patrol, game warden Jay Little Hawk discovers the bodies of a herd of mutilated deer.· A policeman on patrol discovered the bodies at a remote beauty spot near Charterhouse, Somerset.· March 26, authorities discovered 39 bodies in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.· At around two that afternoon one Sandinista driver discovered the dead bodies of three contras near the bridge.· Police discovered the first body at this house in Nelson Street in the Jericho area of Oxford.
· We have already discovered some of the causes of many kinds of cancer, which have been mentioned earlier in this book.· By the 1970s, researchers discovered that a major cause of childhood blindness in Third World countries was vitamin A deficiency.· Relying on tablets for the relief of pain without trying to discover its cause can be positively dangerous.· We too had a humming in the dead of night for about two years until we discovered the cause.· His glee made Bowring nervous about discovering its cause.· Castle, this 1959 thriller casts Price as a mad scientist who discovers the biological cause of fear in human beings.· In their anomalous behaviour electric arcs seemed to defy Ohm's Law and she discovered the cause of this.· What is more important is to discover the causes of delay, without which general conclusions are likely to be unhelpful.
· We say that he discovers his identity as he learns to distinguish between his body and the rest of the world.· But we should be clear that we are redressing a difference, not discovering an identity.· Later, when he discovered the identity of the child, then thirteen, he wrote to apologize.· As a soldier under the Whites there was a price on his head; some one would soon discover his true identity.· Countless disciples have begun to discover their new identity as Christians through the same process.· How on earth had Goebbels discovered the identity of the one remaining escapee?· The plaintiff may want, even more than damages, to discover the identity of the source.· As a consequence, a parent is unlikely to discover the identity of an informant if that person has requested confidentiality.
· My admiration for him was in proportion to the effort that had been necessary to discover the truth.· The full inquests will be heard in May at the earliest, with families hoping at last to discover the truth.· But United Nations officials called for caution, saying a government investigation was necessary to discover the truth.· The root of materialism is probably a firm commitment to empirical scientific method as the only reliable way to discover truth.· How much would it hurt him, she was wondering, when he finally discovered the truth about his fiancée?
VERB· Another important branch of philosophy relevant here is metaphysics, which tries to discover the basic structure of reality.· Social scientists have spent decades trying to discover why some corporate chief executives make more money than others.· Looking about at the crowd of faces, she tried to discover who was watching her.· Ralph had no idea what she meant, but he listened as though trying to discover his essential human worth.· Each time there's a local sighting I usually find an excuse to go out and try to discover it myself.· We tried to discover and define how that person was different from us.· And that's the problem facing conservationists who are trying to discover where the dormice are.· So I tried to discover if there was a traditional protection against shipworm attack.
WORD FAMILYnoundiscovererdiscoveryverbdiscover
1to find someone or something, either by accident or because you were looking for them: The body was discovered in a field. Forest Service crews often discover campfires that have not been put out completely.► see thesaurus at find2to find out something that you did not know about before: The exercises let students discover math concepts on their own.discover (that) She discovered that she was pregnant.discover who/what/how etc His friends were shocked to discover how ill he was.GRAMMARIn more formal English, you say it is discovered that something is true: · It was discovered that lightning was electrical.3if someone discovers a new place, fact, substance etc, they are the first person to find it or know that it exists: The Curies are best known for discovering radium.4to notice or try something for the first time and start to enjoy it: At fourteen, Louise discovered boys.5to notice someone who is very good at something and help them to become successful and well known: a band that’s waiting to be discovered—discoverer noun [countable]