exploration
Americannoun
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an act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination.
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the investigation of unknown regions.
noun
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the act or process of exploring
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med examination of an organ or part for diagnostic purposes
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an organized trip into unfamiliar regions, esp for scientific purposes; expedition
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing exploration
Western Europe - Introductory
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Western Europe - Middle School and High School
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The Renaissance and Early Modern European History - Introductory
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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.
There’s an openness to it, a sense of exploration.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026
Raine says she was drawn in by the script's exploration of modern expectations placed on women.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
NASA's High Performance Spaceflight Computing project is focused on boosting the computing capabilities of spacecraft used in space exploration.
From Science Daily • May 15, 2026
“Our exploration of defense, aerospace and strategic M&A opportunities reflects our belief that there is significant unrealized value in GoPro’s technology, IP and brand.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
What they were doing was real exploration, real thinking—not just finding out about what a bunch of dead, famous grown-ups believed.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
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.
