investigation
Americannoun
-
investigations
plural
-
the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
-
a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts; detailed or careful examination.
- Synonyms:
- exploration, scrutiny
noun
Usage
What does investigation mean? An investigation is a thorough search for facts, especially those that are hidden or need to be sorted out in a complex situation. The goal of an investigation is usually to determine how or why something happened. Investigations are usually formal and official. The word is commonly associated with police investigations of criminal activity, but it is used in many other contexts to refer to the process of investigating—systematically finding and examining evidence. Example: After a six-month investigation, this news organization uncovered widespread corruption.
Synonym Usage
Investigation, examination, inquiry, research express the idea of an active effort to find out something. An investigation is a systematic, minute, and thorough attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official: an investigation of a bank failure. An examination is an orderly attempt to obtain information about or to make a test of something, often something presented for observation: a physical examination. An inquiry is an investigation made by asking questions rather than by inspection, or by study of available evidence: an inquiry into a proposed bond issue. Research is careful and sustained investigation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of investigation
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English investigacio(u)n from Latin investīgātiōn- (stem of investīgātiō ). See investigate, -ion
Explanation
If something has gone missing, conduct an investigation to find it. To do this, seek out details associated with its disappearance, asking questions and gathering evidence in order to find out what happened to it. If you watch a lot of detective shows, it won’t surprise you to learn that the noun investigation traces back to the Latin words in-, meaning “into,” and vestigium, meaning “footprint, track.” An investigation may not always involve people looking for footprints at a crime scene, but that methodical gathering of details and other evidence associated with a crime or wrongdoing is at the heart of any investigation.
Vocabulary lists containing investigation
Florida EOC Biology 1
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Edge: Academic Vocabulary
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Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Syllabus
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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:
Cambridge said it provided Arday with mental health support, and has launched an investigation into its hiring practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
A Coast Guard investigation found the boat was overloaded and didn’t have any child or infant-sized life jackets when it capsized near the Statue of Liberty at around 10.20 p.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“I would guess, because there is a federal investigation going on, they’re not launching their own investigation, but they are going to wait to see what comes out of the federal investigation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
During the investigation, she allegedly told agents she had converted to Islam around five years ago.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
These people would call Child Protective Services and that would lead to a full-on investigation of Mamá.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
It said NRW was investigating a separate potential source of pollution entering the Tywi and as those investigations remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Walter, who owns a majority stake in the Dodgers, is the subject of multiple federal investigations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Since April 2020, it said it had concluded 623 investigations related to reasonable adjustments, of which 496 were upheld or partly upheld.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
“We need to let the investigations proceed, we need to understand how this tragedy has happened, but there has to be accountability at lots of levels,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
It got stronger as time went on, thanks to the investigations of Copernicus’s successors.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
