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
Derived 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.
Elon Musk’s rockets-to-AI conglomerate Space Exploration, popularly known as SpaceX, is finally coming to the stock market.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
Last year, Space Exploration Technologies - as it is officially known - brought in $18.6bn in revenue but had a net loss $4.9bn.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
"It is a critical time period for human evolution as this new paper shows," said Arrowsmith, professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration.
From Science Daily • May 16, 2026
Still, PTT Exploration remains DBS’s top Thai energy-sector pick as it is a direct beneficiary of the crude price surge, even though its current average selling price doesn’t yet fully reflect oil’s gains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
Mop’s parents eventually pick him up, and they drive off to Withlacoochee River Wildlife Exploration Summer Camp, somewhere in central Florida.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
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.
