search.
An attempt to find something.
Meaning & usage
An attempt to find something.
With only five minutes until we were meant to leave, the search for the keys started in earnest.
The act of searching in general.
Search is a hard problem for computers to solve efficiently.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos)bor. Latin circus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō 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.
To look in (a place) for something.
I searched the garden for the keys and found them in the vegetable patch.
To look thoroughly.
The police are searching for evidence in his flat.
To look for, seek.
To put a phrase into a search engine, especially one besides Google.
I searched "Paris Hilton" and found lots of unflattering stories.
To probe or examine (a wound).
To examine; to try; to put to the test.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos)bor. Latin circus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.