examine

American  

[ig-zam-in] / ɪgˈzæm ɪn /

verb (used with object)

• examines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• examined,
  past participle,  past
• examining
  present participle

1. to inspect or scrutinize carefully.

   to examine a prospective purchase.

   Synonyms:

   study, explore, probe, search, scrutinize, inspect

2. to observe, test, or investigate (a person's body or any part of it), especially in order to evaluate general health or determine the cause of illness.

3. to inquire into or investigate.

   to examine one's motives.

   Synonyms:

   quiz

4. to test the knowledge, reactions, or qualifications of (a pupil, candidate, etc.), as by questions or assigning tasks.

5. to subject to legal inquisition; put to question in regard to conduct or to knowledge of facts; interrogate.

   to examine a witness;

   to examine a suspect.

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examine British  

/ ɪɡˈzæmɪn /

verb

1. to look at, inspect, or scrutinize carefully or in detail; investigate

2. education to test the knowledge or skill of (a candidate) in (a subject or activity) by written or oral questions or by practical tests

3. law to interrogate (a witness or accused person) formally on oath

4. med to investigate the state of health of (a patient)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• examiner
  noun
• preexaminer
  noun
• subexaminer
  noun
• superexaminer
  noun
• preexamine
  verb (used with object)
• examinable
  adjective
• examinatorial
  adjective
• examining
  adjective
• unexaminable
  adjective
• unexamined
  adjective
• unexamining
  adjective
• well-examined
  adjective
• examiningly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• examining
  present
• examined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• examine
  simple
• examines
  simple
• have examined
  perfect
• has examined
  perfect
• am examining
  progressive
• are examining
  progressive
• is examining
  progressive
• have been examining
  perfect progressive
• has been examining
  perfect progressive

Past

• examined
  simple
• had examined
  perfect
• was examining
  progressive
• were examining
  progressive
• had been examining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will examine
  simple
• will have examined
  perfect
• will be examining
  progressive
• will have been examining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of examine

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French examiner, from Latin exāmināre “to weigh, examine, test,” equivalent to exāmin- (stem of exāmen examen ) + -āre, infinitive ending

Explanation

The verb examine means to study something carefully and in great detail. You can examine a book, a painting, a person’s face and so on. Right now, you are examining the meaning of examine. Examine means to look at something very closely and usually with the purpose of making a judgment. If you go to see a doctor, the doctor will examine you to see if you are healthy. Examine can also mean “question.” When the police examine a witness, they are questioning that witness. Along these same lines, examine can also be used to mean “test.” You might examine, or test, your friend’s knowledge of biology by asking him repeated questions about that subject.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

examine examines examined examining

But first, let’s go back a few hundred thousand years to examine our early human ancestors.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

Other shareholders have since said that Mattel should examine alternatives to boost its share price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

The group said the investigation should examine whether Carr and Trusty broke rules on accepting gifts or broke criminal laws prohibiting federal officials from accepting illegal gratuities.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Let’s examine some top linebackers and running backs to keep an eye on this high school football season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as he sat down at the machine to examine the other tray I had completed.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Once she understands the character, Dalton examines how the actor portrays the words on the page.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

A new machine-learning approach that examines brain activity during sleep may help identify people with an elevated risk of developing dementia.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

The record examines the collapse of her marriage to actor David Harbour in unvarnished detail.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Work on the site has continued steadily for the past 15 months, including truck traffic, tunnel reinforcements and a new security perimeter, according to Albright’s institute, which examines nuclear and nonproliferation issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Baba examines him, encourages him to eat small pieces of bread, to sip a little cooled sweet tea.

From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell

To identify the spadefoot toad, Cruz said he examined the bones of amphibians found at the Tar Pits, a collection that hadn’t been analyzed in nearly 30 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Within the core, researchers examined fossilized microplankton known as dinocysts, along with organic lipid biomarkers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Another AI-detection startup, Originality.ai, examined 5,000 public LinkedIn posts in July for signs they used AI more than a “moderate” amount.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Another paper examined how the return of wolves to Wisconsin affected car crashes with deer.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

As the two surgeons examined him, they found a sac full of pus under his skin three inches below the bullet hole.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has admitted his force "dropped the ball" when it spent four months investigating a journalist examining claims about a University of Cambridge professor embroiled in a plagiarism row.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Before examining what other companies are planning, here’s some background.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

By examining how these more recent bones were deposited and altered, the researchers aimed to understand how fossils belonging to extinct megafauna may also have entered underwater caves.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

When the researchers began examining potential alternatives to wood fiber, cost and scale were crucial considerations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

In examining their deeds and their lives, one can see that they received nothing from Fortune except opportunity, which gave them the material they could mould into whatever form they liked.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Related Words

• audit
• check
• check out
• consider
• criticize
• delve into
• explore
• inspect
• investigate
• ponder
• pore over
• probe
• read
• research
• review
• scan
• screen
• scrutinize
• study
• survey