explorer

[ik-splawr-er]

noun

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.

Explorer

¹

/ ɪkˈsplɔːrə /

noun

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

Explorer

²

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of explorer¹

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

Example Sentences

In “Floyd Collins,” Jeremy Jordan met the challenge of bringing vital life to a character on the verge of losing his—a cave explorer trapped underground—in director Tina Landau’s restrained but deeply moving production.

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Banana Republic sales have rebounded as the company tries to turn the store into a premium destination with a “modern explorer” style.

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There were memoirs by Arctic explorers, fearless mountaineers, and deep-sea divers who braved the briny deep wearing those newfangled diving costumes.

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The children thought it all a great game; by turns they pretended they were moles in dark tunnels, or explorers charting an unmapped jungle, or Postal Tygers delivering the mail along an unfamiliar route.

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“He is a famous explorer. Although if you don’t know who your parents are, I don’t expect you’ve heard of him, either.”

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