searching
Americanadjective
-
examining carefully or thoroughly.
a searching inspection.
-
acutely observant or penetrating.
a searching glance; a searching mind.
-
piercing or sharp.
a searching wind.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- searchingly adverb
- searchingness noun
- self-searching adjective
- unsearching adjective
- unsearchingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of searching
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.
Faced with rising costs and public pressure to expand services—from transit to child-care to housing—policymakers are searching for new revenue.
From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026
He came back to Peru four years later, received an unprecedented promotion to field marshal, and explored the country’s wild interior, searching for navigable rivers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Investigators are searching for a suspect and suspect vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
Instead of searching for specific biological signals, their approach looks for patterns shared across groups of planets.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
It’s the watch case Dad has been searching for all summer.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
