search

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search

[surch]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to go or look through (a place, area, etc.) carefully in order to find something missing or lost: They searched the woods for the missing child. I searched the desk for the letter.

2.	to look at or examine (a person, object, etc.) carefully in order to find something concealed: He searched the vase for signs of a crack. The police searched the suspect for weapons.

3.	to explore or examine in order to discover: They searched the hills for gold.

4.	to look at, read, or examine (a record, writing, collection, repository, etc.) for information: to search a property title; He searched the courthouse for a record of the deed to the land.

5.	to look at or beneath the superficial aspects of to discover a motive, reaction, feeling, basic truth, etc.: He searched her face for a clue to her true feelings.

6.	to look into, question, or scrutinize: She searched her conscience.

7.	(of natural elements) to pierce or penetrate: The sunlight searched the room's dark corners.

8.	to uncover or find by examination or exploration (often fol. by out): to search out all the facts.

9.	Military. to fire artillery over (an area) with successive changes in gun elevation.

10.	Computers. to examine (one or more files, as databases or texts) electronically, to locate specified items.

–verb (used without object)

11.	to inquire, investigate, examine, or seek; conduct an examination or investigation.

–noun

12.	an act or instance of searching; careful examination or investigation.

13.	the practice, on the part of naval officers of a belligerent nation, of boarding and examining a suspected neutral vessel at sea in order to ascertain its true nationality and determine if it is carrying contraband: the right of visit and search.

—Idiom

14.	search me, I don't know: Why has it taken so long to reach a decision? Search me.

Origin:
1300–50; (v.) ME serchen, cerchen (< AF sercher) < OF cerchier < LL circāre to go around, deriv. of L circus circle; (n.) ME serche < AF serche, OF cerche, deriv. of cerchier

Related forms:

search⋅a⋅ble, adjective

search⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun

searcher, noun

Synonyms:
1. investigate. 2. inspect. 12. inspection, scrutiny.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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search (sûrch)

v. searched, search·ing, search·es

v. tr.

To make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore.
To make a careful examination or investigation of; probe: search one's conscience for the right solution to the problem.
Law To make a thorough check of (a legal document); scrutinize: search a title.
1. To examine in order to find something lost or concealed.
2. To examine the person or personal effects of in order to find something lost or concealed.
To come to know; learn.

v. intr.
To conduct a thorough investigation; seek: were searching for clues.
n.

An act of searching.
Law The exercise of right of search.

[Middle English serchen, from Anglo-Norman sercher, variant of Old French cerchier, from Latin circāre, to go around, from Latin circus, circle, from Greek krikos, kirkos; see sker-² in Indo-European roots.]
search'a·ble adj., search'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

search (v.)

c.1330, from O.Fr. cerchier "to search," from L. circare "go about, wander, traverse," from circus "circle." The noun is first recorded c.1400. Phrase search me as a verbal shrug of ignorance first recorded 1901. Search warrant first attested 1739. Search-light recorded from 1883.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: search
Function: noun
1 : an exploratory investigation (as of an area or person) by a government agent that intrudes on an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy and is conducted usually for the purpose of finding evidence of unlawful activity or guilt or to locate a person searches are invalid unless they fall within narrowly drawn exceptions —State v. Mahone, 701 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 171 (1985)> —see also EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES, PLAIN VIEW 2 probable cause at CAUSE 2, REASONABLE SUSPICION search warrant at WARRANT —compare SEIZURE
NOTE: The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and requires that a warrant may issue only upon probable cause and that the warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched. Some searches, such as a search incident to an arrest, have been held to be valid without a warrant.

administrative search
: an inspection or search carried out under a regulatory or statutory scheme esp. in public or commercial premises and usually to enforce compliance with regulations or laws pertaining to health, safety, or security administrative searches is that the government may not use an administrative inspection scheme as a pretext to search for evidence of criminal violations —People v. Madison, 520 North Eastern Reporter, Second Series 374 (1988)> called also administrative inspection inspection regulatory search —see also probable cause at CAUSE 2
NOTE: The U.S. Supreme Court held in Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523 (1967), that a reasonable administrative search may be conducted upon a showing of probable cause which is less stringent than that required for a search incident to a criminal investigation. The Court stated that the reasonableness of the search can only be determined by “balancing the need to search against the invasion which the search entails.” Cases following Camara have stated that the probable cause requirement is fulfilled by showing that the search meets reasonable administrative standards established in a nonarbitrary regulatory scheme.

bor·der search
: a search made of a person upon crossing into the U.S. at a border or its equivalent (as the airport at which the person arrives in the U.S.)
NOTE: Probable cause is not required for a border search.

consent search
: a warrantless search conducted upon the voluntarily given consent of a person having authority over the place or things to be searched

inventory search
: a warrantless search (as of an impounded automobile) conducted for the purpose of placing personal property in safekeeping to prevent loss of the property and claims against police for such loss

protective search
: a search (as a frisk) conducted by a law enforcement officer for the purpose of ensuring against threats to safety (as from a concealed weapon) or sometimes to prevent the destruction of evidence

regulatory search
: ADMINISTRATIVE SEARCH in this entry

shake·down search
/'shAk-"daun-/
: a search for illicit or contraband material (as weapons or drugs) in prisoners' cells that is usually random and warrantless
NOTE: In Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517 (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Fourth Amendment protections do not extend to searches of prisoners' cells.

strip search
: a search for something concealed on a person conducted after removal of the person's clothing
2 : an act of boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas in exercise of the right to do so under international law (as in time of war)
3 : an examination of a public record or registry —see also TITLE SEARCH

Main Entry: search
Function: transitive verb
: to conduct a search of <search a premises> <search a person> <search a title> intransitive verb : to conduct a search <search for drugs in a school locker> —search·er noun

Computing Dictionary

search
1. web search.
2. search problem.
3. search algorithm.

Idioms & Phrases

search

In addition to the idiom beginning with search, also see high and low, search; in search of.

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