probing
Americanadjective
noun
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probings
plural
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the act or practice of examining, investigating, or exploring something in a deep or searching way.
Constant probing of the night sky by scientists reveals an abundance of activity within our solar system.
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the act of examining or exploring something by means of a probe or any of various instruments, devices, etc..
Probing of the blocked duct was done under anesthesia.
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Computers. the process of scanning a network, database, webpage, web app, etc., in order to obtain information about its structure and any security weaknesses that could be used to launch an attack: undertaken either maliciously by hostile parties, or diagnostically and preventively by those wishing to improve security.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of probing
First recorded in 1660–70; 2000–05 gauging for def. 3; probe ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective sense; probe ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses
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:
Intriguingly, the team saw hackers scanning and probing their fake freezer sites only in Europe.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Yet Wedgewood also lied to media outlets that did ask probing questions about its methods, so that explanation is hard to take at face value.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026
As Hanns-Christoph Nägerl says: "The discovery of fractional Fermi seas shows how far we can push quantum simulation: not only reproducing known models, but creating and probing states that go beyond established paradigms."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
The company said it is probing a series of trades on their platform that predicted Trump would select conservative commentator Katie Zacharia to be his next press secretary, a Kalshi spokeswoman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
She looks at me, her eyes probing into my head.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Patients have turned to him after watching graphic videos of his healing rituals, which include nasal probings, body incisions and eye scrapings.
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2018
The probings about driver versus three-wood had lost steam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2015
His finding echoes the results of similar probings by other researchers into the 2008 statistics.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 26, 2012
Matters of marriage, sex, science and womanhood are raised by Ruhl, a continually inventive playwright whose lyrical sense of the absurd is as acute as her insightful probings into the psyches of her quirky characters.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2011
Upon couches made of boughs, and covered with blankets, the brave young fellows were placed; and many of them submitted to probings and painful management of wounds without making a murmur.
From The Story of Louis Riel: the Rebel Chief by J. E. (Joseph Edmund) Collins
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