- present participle of survey.
noun
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the study or practice of measuring altitudes, angles, and distances on the land surface so that they can be accurately plotted on a map
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the setting out on the ground of the positions of proposed construction or engineering works
Etymology
Origin of surveying
1425–75; late Middle English: act of examining closely; see survey, -ing 1
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.
The scheme, alongside others including Nuclear Waste Services and Cumbria Wildlife Trust, will involve surveying the county's sand dune habitats which, like those in the rest of the country, have been historically degraded.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Operating above Earth's atmosphere, Euclid avoids the infrared glow that limits ground based observations while surveying enormous portions of the sky at remarkable depth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
"When I opened it in the seventies, I was still a young man... now nothing is left," he said, leaning heavily on a walking stick and surveying the vast destruction.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
However security is handled, there will be no ICE officers surveying the crowd with facial-recognition software and abducting people for unstated reasons.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
With a flap of his flippers he jumped from the tub to the washstand, and stood there for a minute surveying the floor.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
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.
