examine
to inspect or scrutinize carefully: to examine a prospective purchase.
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.
to inquire into or investigate: to examine one's motives.
to test the knowledge, reactions, or qualifications of (a pupil, candidate, etc.), as by questions or assigning tasks.
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.
Origin of examine
1Other words for examine
Other words from examine
- ex·am·in·a·ble, adjective
- ex·am·i·na·to·ri·al [ig-zam-uh-nuh-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-], /ɪgˌzæm ə nəˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjective
- ex·am·in·er, noun
- ex·am·in·ing·ly, adverb
- pre·ex·am·ine, verb (used with object), pre·ex·am·ined, pre·ex·am·in·ing.
- pre·ex·am·in·er, noun
- sub·ex·am·in·er, noun
- su·per·ex·am·in·er, noun
- un·ex·am·in·a·ble, adjective
- un·ex·am·ined, adjective
- un·ex·am·in·ing, adjective
- well-ex·am·ined, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use examine in a sentence
That officer believed my fair-skinned son was white, according to the traffic citation I examined.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face? | Goldie Taylor | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey examined every “poll list, tally sheet, certificate of result, and, where necessary, each ballot.”
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era | Gary May | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCompany engineers examined those photos at the request of CIR and reported that none looked authentic.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’ | The Center for Investigative Reporting | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was only after a physician examined him that she included in his record that he had recently arrived from Africa.
He states them with a musical cadence and then brings them out one by one to be examined, dissected and reveled in.
When he had finished, she took them from his hand, and turning them round in agitated silence, examined their seals and writing.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterThis must have been already examined and considered, if the letters in which I discussed it at length have not been lost.
I would have examined the poor man, but the friends kicked up a great row and shoved me off.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneThe rules hereafter given must be carefully studied and every example painstakingly examined.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)A rather large drop is taken upon a slide, covered, and examined with a low power.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for examine
/ (ɪɡˈzæmɪn) /
to look at, inspect, or scrutinize carefully or in detail; investigate
education to test the knowledge or skill of (a candidate) in (a subject or activity) by written or oral questions or by practical tests
law to interrogate (a witness or accused person) formally on oath
med to investigate the state of health of (a patient)
Origin of examine
1Derived forms of examine
- examinable, adjective
- examiner, noun
- examining, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse