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• explorer
  explorer

  noun

  a person or thing that explores.
• Explorer
  Explorer

  noun

  a member of the senior branch of the Scouts

explorer

American  

[ik-splawr-er] / ɪkˈsplɔr ər /

noun

• explorers
  plural

1. a person or thing that explores.

2. a person who investigates unknown regions.

   the great explorers of the Renaissance.

3. any instrument used in exploring or sounding a wound, a cavity in a tooth, or the like.

4. Also called Explorer Scout.  (initial capital letter) a person between the ages 14 and 20 who is an active participant in the exploring program sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America.

5. (initial capital letter) one of a long series of U.S. scientific satellites: Explorer 1 (1958) was the first U.S. artificial satellite.

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Explorer ¹ British  

/ ɪkˈsplɔːrə /

noun

1. Brit equivalent: Venture Scout.  a member of the senior branch of the Scouts

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Explorer ² British  

/ ɪkˈsplɔːrə /

noun

1. any of the first series of US satellites. Explorer 1 , launched in 1958, confirmed the existence of intense radiation belts around the earth

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• explorers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of explorer

First recorded in 1675–85; explore + -er ¹

Explanation

An explorer is a person who sets out to discover something by going somewhere unfamiliar. You might think Marco Polo is just a game to play in the pool, but Marco Polo was actually a famous explorer in the 13th century. In ancient Greece, the explorer Pytheas travelled to what is now Great Britain and Germany, and the Chinese explorer Wang Dayuan explored the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea in the second century BCE. More recently, explorers have voyaged to the moon and outer space. Before the late seventeenth century, this kind of adventurer was called an exploratour, from the Latin root explorare, "examine or investigate."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

explorer Explorer explorers

Paddy describes himself as an "artist, inventor, explorer and plumber based in Belfast".

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

“In the 14th century A.D., a Moroccan explorer named Ibn Battuta documented that a buttery variation of khichuri was eaten daily in South Asia,” wrote Rachael Grow for Mashed.

From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026

And there are worlds of beauty, meaning and narrative to be read in the often-static imagery by which Mr. Diaz recounts the life and crimes of a 16th-century Portuguese explorer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

The explorer was near Twentynine Palms around 7:30 a.m. when he came across the unidentified remains, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

“Very well, my arrogant young adventurer. Why not test your courage? Every explorer deserves a chance to prove his mettle.”

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

No other employee was paid more than $5,000 from 2016 to 2024, according to FLAG’s federal filings, obtained through ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

After testing it out, Hall said the couple “reluctantly” took on the Explorer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, known as JUICE, launched in April 2023 and is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in July 2031.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

The recall covers certain Expedition, Navigator, Explorer, Aviator, F-150 models from 2018 to 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Somewhere, hours from here, a cracked Junior Explorer compass lay on the floor of the woods.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu

Last month, explorers discovered the ruins of the Douglas DC-4 aircraft using an autonomous sonar drone that detected the aircraft's fuselage and tail.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

The long-vacant site has become a magnet for so-called urban explorers, who prowl abandoned malls, hospitals, power plants, amusement parks, factories and any other disused structure they can breach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

It’s a tradition that dates back to 1886, and there have been over 200 such parades since then, celebrating great explorers, war heroes and champion athletes.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

Specimens gathered by explorers generations ago continue to provide valuable scientific insights today, especially in remote regions where fieldwork remains difficult.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

It showed the Osage from the time they roamed the plains to their first encounter with European explorers and missionaries, and to the black-gold rush.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann