verb
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to discern or make out; catch sight of
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to discover by looking carefully; detect
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of descry
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English descrien, from Old French de(s)crïer “to proclaim, decry”; see dis- 1, cry
Explanation
If you spot something, you descry it. When you spy it, you descry it. It's a good verb to use when you catch a glimpse of a rare bird in the trees. Or when you finally spot Waldo in a Where's Waldo? book. Descry is very similar to "see" or "discern," but involves more than just keeping your eyes open. Usually you descry something after observing carefully for a while. Wrote Ovid, the Ancient Roman poet and author: “Time on time revolving we descry, so moments flit, so moments fly.” Apparently, even in antiquity people complained about seeing the time go by too quickly.
Vocabulary lists containing descry
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Othello
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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.
Thou to me Art foreign, as when seamen at the dawn Descry a land far off, and know not which.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 14 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Adown and round the castle's steep, I let my glances wander; But cannot from the dizzy keep, Descry it, there or yonder.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845 by Various
Thou to me Art foreign, as when seamen at the dawn Descry a land far off and know not which.
From Underwoods by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Nothing at all, it is a high wrought Flood: I cannot 'twixt the Heauen, and the Maine, Descry a Saile Mon.
From Othello by Shakespeare, William
The lines are from an address to the Deity: How, Unapproached! shall mind of man Descry Thy dazzling throne, And pierce and find Thee out, and scan Where Thou dost dwell alone?
From The Story of the Hymns and Tunes by Brown, Theron
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.
