noun
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the study or practice of measuring altitudes, angles, and distances on the land surface so that they can be accurately plotted on a map
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the setting out on the ground of the positions of proposed construction or engineering works
Etymology
Origin of surveying
1425–75; late Middle English: act of examining closely; see survey, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Surveying his own time, Fiedler concludes that this gothic literary mode still captures most fully what he describes as “an era of universal war, alienation from nature, failed revolutions, genocide, and ideological self-deception.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Surveying the data, he adds, one could be forgiven for assuming central bankers were targeting 3% inflation not 2%.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
Surveying the damage, two local men, Abdullah and his father Gulraiz, were convinced water would be drained soon, thanks to the area's property developer Aleem Khan, a federal minister.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2025
Surveying the damaged pumping equipment and a grim lake of sewage at the Sheikh Radwan wastewater plant, Fletcher said the task ahead for the UN and aid agencies was a "massive, massive job".
From Barron's • Oct. 18, 2025
It was part of a multivolume set called Narrative of the Surveying Voyages ofHMS Adventure and Beagle Between the years 1826 and 1836.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
