descry

[dih-skrahy]

See more synonyms for descry on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), de·scried, de·scry·ing.

to see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy: The lookout descried land.
to discover; perceive; detect.

Origin of descry

1250–1300; Middle English descrien < Old French de(s)crïer to proclaim, decry. See dis-¹, cry

Related formsde·scri·er, nounun·de·scried, adjectiveun·de·scry·ing, adjective

Can be confuseddecry descry (see synonym study at decry)

Synonyms for descry

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1. notice.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for descry

disclose, reveal, detect, determine, spot, perceive, note, espy, see, observe, sight, behold, discern

Examples from the Web for descry

Historical Examples of descry

If only she could descry something plain to tell her husband!
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
And can you descry no difference between his letters and those addressed to other people?'
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
Bolko could descry the figure of Auriola at the margin of the spring.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844
Various
Then she prayed a prayer from the depths of her heart; but still she could descry no rock.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17)
Various
No people who have lived much with Nature have failed to descry this.
The Soul of a People
H. Fielding

British Dictionary definitions for descry

descry

verb -scries, -scrying or -scried (tr)

to discern or make out; catch sight of
to discover by looking carefully; detect

Derived Formsdescrier, noun

Word Origin for descry

C14: from Old French descrier to proclaim, decry

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

Word Origin and History for descry

v.1

"to see, discern," c.1300, probably from Old French descrier "publish" (Modern French décrier), from Latin describere (see describe).

v.2

"to proclaim," mid-14c., from Old French descrier, from des- (see dis-) + crier, from Latin quiritare (see cry (v.)).