ascertain
verb (used with object)
to find out definitely; learn with certainty or assurance; determine.
ascertainable
-
a word derived from
ascertain.
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.
Douglass believed that constitutional language had an ascertainable public meaning, but that when ambiguity remained, natural rights supplied the interpretive rule.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
However, Zeleznikow-Johnston disagrees with that definition because he feels it is a “first person subjective definition” of consciousness, rather than one sufficiently detached to be ascertainable by a theoretical third party.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2024
First of all, Habba acts as if the wool was pulled over her eyes, but this fact was easily ascertainable through a quick Google search.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2024
Because the law defines neither “instruction” nor “human sexuality,” the complaint also contends, those terms “are impossibly vague and lack any ascertainable standards for determining whether or not the law has been violated.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
Thirteen witnesses declare that they have heard musical pieces well played upon instruments not manipulated by any ascertainable agency.
From Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants by Camille Flammarion
