noun
- The act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation.
- usage: "the determination of molecular structures"
- synonyms: determination
- The decision of a court on issues of fact or law.
- Something that is found.
- usage: "the findings in the gastrointestinal tract indicate that he died several hours after dinner"; "an area rich in archaeological findings"
verb
- Come upon, as if by accident; meet with.
- usage: "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day"
- Discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of.
- usage: "She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water"; "We found traces of lead in the paint"
- Come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost.
- usage: "Did you find your glasses"; "I cannot find my gloves"
- Establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study.
- usage: "find the product of two numbers"; "The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize"
- Come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds.
- usage: "I feel that he doesn't like me"; "I find him to be obnoxious"; "I found the movie rather entertaining"
- Perceive or be contemporaneous with.
- usage: "We found Republicans winning the offices"; "You'll see a lot of cheating in this school"; "The 1960's saw the rebellion of the younger generation against established traditions"; "I want to see results"
- Get something or somebody for a specific purpose.
- usage: "I found this gadget that will serve as a bottle opener"; "I got hold of these tools to fix our plumbing"; "The chairman got hold of a secretary on Friday night to type the urgent letter"
- Make a discovery, make a new finding.
- usage: "Roentgen discovered X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle"
- Make a discovery.
- usage: "She found that he had lied to her"; "The story is false, so far as I can discover"
- Obtain through effort or management.
- usage: "She found the time and energy to take care of her aging parents"; "We found the money to send our sons to college"
- synonyms: find
- Decide on and make a declaration about.
- usage: "find someone guilty"
- Receive a specified treatment (abstract. )
- usage: "These aspects of civilization do not find expression or receive an interpretation"; "His movie received a good review"; "I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions"
- Perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place.
- usage: "I found myself in a difficult situation"; "When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital room"
- synonyms: find
- Get or find back; recover the use of.
- usage: "She regained control of herself"; "She found her voice and replied quickly"
- Succeed in reaching; arrive at.
- usage: "The arrow found its mark"
- synonyms: find
- Accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation.
- usage: "My son went to Berkeley to find himself"
- synonyms: find oneself, find
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). finding. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/finding/definitions/1193776 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "finding" http://smartdefine.org/finding/definitions/1193776 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, finding, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/finding/definitions/1193776>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "finding" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/finding/definitions/1193776> |