exploration

American  

[ek-spluh-ray-shuhn] / ˌɛk spləˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• explorations
  plural

1. an act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination.

2. the investigation of unknown regions.

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exploration British  

/ ˌɛkspləˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of exploring

2. med examination of an organ or part for diagnostic purposes

3. an organized trip into unfamiliar regions, esp for scientific purposes; expedition

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reexploration
  noun
• exploratory
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• explorations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of exploration

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin explōrātiōn-, stem of explōrātiō “examination,” from explōrāt(us) “searched out, examined” (past participle of explōrāre “to search out, examine”; see explore) + -iō -ion

Explanation

An exploration is a trip, but it's more than just a vacation — it's going somewhere to examine and discover new things. Exploration is what you do when you want to learn more about what's out there in the big wide world. Guys like Christopher Columbus were experts in exploration. Some astronauts devote their lives to the exploration of space, looking for new planets. But you don't have to go any farther than your local library to do your own exploration — when you study or research something, you could say you're doing an exploration of it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exploration explorations

They said the British energy giant should be held responsible because of its past and current greenhouse gas emissions associated with exploration, production and sale of fossil fuels.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

That becomes especially challenging in applications such as space exploration, where equipment must be compact, lightweight, and reliable.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

These missions will deliver scientific instruments and new technologies intended to expand American leadership in space science, support a sustained lunar presence, and prepare for more ambitious human exploration.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

While Zuckerberg’s function in “The Social Reckoning” is to stand in for Facebook as an entity, Sorkin isn’t totally ruling out any further exploration of the man.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The voyage probably never took place, but it would have been one of discovery rather than exploration.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Whatever Annabel Lee may have thought, this was the period just before the Beatles got truly weird; the fantastic sonic explorations of “Revolver” would come next.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

We could think of the three albums in this series as further explorations in one particular genre, rather than personal exorcisms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Users create maps, fictional diary entries, survival guides, found-footage videos and first-person explorations that collectively expand the world.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

He described the vows as "long, entertaining, personal, charming, emotional, irreverent and endearing explorations by each" about how they met and why they wanted to be married.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

In our explorations on mud roads around Mount Elgon, we saw signs of the recent trouble: burned, empty huts that had once belonged to Bukusu farmers.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Related Words

• analysis
• examination
• expedition
• inspection
• research
• search
• study
• travel