find
Americanverb (used with object)
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finds,
present (3rd person singular)
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found,
past participle, past
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finding
present participle
-
to come upon by chance; meet with.
He found a nickel in the street.
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to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort.
to find an apartment; to find happiness.
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to locate or recover (something lost or misplaced).
I can't find my blue socks.
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to discover or perceive after consideration.
to find something to be true.
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to gain or regain the use of.
His anger finally helped him find his tongue.
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to ascertain by study or calculation.
to find the sum of several numbers.
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to feel or perceive.
He finds it so.
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to become aware of, or discover (oneself ), as being in a condition or location.
After a long illness, he found himself well again. She woke to find herself at home.
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to discover.
Columbus found America in 1492.
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Law.
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to determine after judicial inquiry.
to find a person guilty.
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to pronounce as an official act (an indictment, verdict, or judgment).
-
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to provide or furnish.
Bring blankets and we'll find the rest of the equipment for the trip.
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South Midland and Southern U.S. (of farm animals) to give birth to.
The brown cow found a calf yesterday.
verb (used without object)
-
finds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
found,
past participle, past
-
finding
present participle
-
to determine an issue after judicial inquiry.
The jury found for the plaintiff.
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British Hunting. to come upon game.
noun
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finds
plural
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an act of finding or discovering.
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something found; a discovery, especially a valuable or gratifying one.
Our cook was a find.
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Hunting. a discovery of game, especially foxes.
verb phrase
idioms
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find fault. fault.
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find oneself, to discover where one's real interests or talents lie, and follow them.
After trying many occupations, he finally found himself and became an account executive.
verb
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to meet with or discover by chance
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to discover or obtain, esp by search or effort
to find happiness
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(may take a clause as object) to become aware of; realize
he found that nobody knew
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(may take a clause as object) to regard as being; consider
I find this wine a little sour
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to look for and point out (something to be criticized)
to find fault
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(also intr) law to determine an issue after judicial inquiry and pronounce a verdict (upon)
the court found the accused guilty
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to regain (something lost or not functioning)
to find one's tongue
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to reach (a target)
the bullet found its mark
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to provide, esp with difficulty
we'll find room for you too
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to be able to pay
I can't find that amount of money
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to realize and accept one's real character; discover one's true vocation
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to become capable or confident, as in a new job
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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findsimple
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findssimple
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have foundperfect
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has foundperfect
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am findingprogressive
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are findingprogressive
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is findingprogressive
-
have been findingperfect progressive
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has been findingperfect progressive
Past
-
foundsimple
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had foundperfect
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was findingprogressive
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were findingprogressive
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had been findingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of find
First recorded before 900; Middle English finden, Old English findan; cognate with German finden, Dutch vinden, Old Norse finna, Gothic finthan
Explanation
To find something means to discover it. When you're strolling through a green field, you might try to find a four-leaf clover. You can find something deliberately, or by stumbling upon it, like when you find a five-dollar bill on the sidewalk. In this meaning, find means obtain, but it can also mean observe, such as when you find that reading in dim light gives you a headache. As a noun, find is the thing you discover, like your elephant costume, the best find in day of garage sale shopping.
Vocabulary lists containing find
Novel Study: The Bluest Eye, Pages 94–206
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Spelling Practice, Unit 8
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Spelling Practice, Unit 3
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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.
See Examples For:
I was laid off two months ago, and I’ve been struggling to find a new role.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
To find out what the events mean for enterprises, I talked with Tim Crawford, founder and CIO strategic advisor at advisory services firm AVOA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
When he died, his collection was sold to the American Museum of Natural History, but they were never able to find this specimen.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
The July jobs report showed it took unemployed Americans almost 25 weeks on average to find their next job.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The priest also explains that “he indicated many instances in which he had tried to find out what she was reading and she had refused to show him the title of the book.”
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Yet “Camp Miasma” finds Schoenbrun bravely opening up and getting vulnerable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
He obtained a college degree, is employed as a drug counselor, and still finds time to give back to the people through his illustrations.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Now, she finds interacting with strangers considerably less scary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
What one finds is that the photon actually arrives far earlier than that.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
“My mom is going to have a cow when she finds out what I’ve done. What I’m doing. What I did. Not just one cow. Probably an entire herd.”
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The podcast host found no evidence that the All-NBA forward did any work for the company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“The problem is that 5G availability can be inconsistent. We’ve found this can even be the case from one address to the next,” Cooper said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Despite the suffering and challenges of relocating his hives to an unfamiliar landscape, Al-Dabba said he found "hope after seeing the bees coexist and adapt".
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
U.S. startups are finally delivering something researchers have been working on for decades: a battery in which rare, hard-to-get elements are replaced with the same stuff found in ordinary table salt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
He found that if he kept moving, it was easier to fend off the gravity of the open realm.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
One of my favorite moments in their adventure shows Higgins finding his way to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
The finding could lead to new ways of controlling heat in advanced electronics and quantum technologies.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Meanwhile, people are finding new ways to figure out whether others nearby are wearing smart glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But American, Israeli and Lebanese officials are finding there are no easy options to disarm the group, which has been fighting with Israel for years and isn’t a party to the negotiations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
That should make finding her in a foreign country easier.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
