investigation
Americannoun
-
the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
-
a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts; detailed or careful examination.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
noun
Usage
What does investigation mean? An investigation is a thorough search for facts, especially those that are hidden or need to be sorted out in a complex situation. The goal of an investigation is usually to determine how or why something happened. Investigations are usually formal and official. The word is commonly associated with police investigations of criminal activity, but it is used in many other contexts to refer to the process of investigating—systematically finding and examining evidence. Example: After a six-month investigation, this news organization uncovered widespread corruption.
Synonym Usage
Investigation, examination, inquiry, research express the idea of an active effort to find out something. An investigation is a systematic, minute, and thorough attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official: an investigation of a bank failure. An examination is an orderly attempt to obtain information about or to make a test of something, often something presented for observation: a physical examination. An inquiry is an investigation made by asking questions rather than by inspection, or by study of available evidence: an inquiry into a proposed bond issue. Research is careful and sustained investigation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of investigation
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English investigacio(u)n from Latin investīgātiōn- (stem of investīgātiō ). See investigate, -ion
Explanation
If something has gone missing, conduct an investigation to find it. To do this, seek out details associated with its disappearance, asking questions and gathering evidence in order to find out what happened to it. If you watch a lot of detective shows, it won’t surprise you to learn that the noun investigation traces back to the Latin words in-, meaning “into,” and vestigium, meaning “footprint, track.” An investigation may not always involve people looking for footprints at a crime scene, but that methodical gathering of details and other evidence associated with a crime or wrongdoing is at the heart of any investigation.
Vocabulary lists containing investigation
Florida EOC Biology 1
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Edge: Academic Vocabulary
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Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Syllabus
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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.
Reports of a 23-year-old man falling from Yosemite National Park’s nearly 600-foot water fall are under investigation by the National Park Service, according to authorities.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
"Anyone with information that may assist our investigation is urged to speak to us as a matter of urgency."
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
U.S. regulators late Monday opened an investigation into a fatal crash involving one of the electric-vehicle maker’s cars.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
Ferazani’s letter indicates numerous issues with Sorsby’s petition for inclusion in a supplemental draft, including no complete record of the NCAA’s investigation that led to his ban.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
Besides making Coal instantly popular at both the middle and high schools, it had made the news and sparked a congressional investigation into military experiments.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
