surveyor
Americannoun
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a person whose occupation is surveying.
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an overseer or supervisor.
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Chiefly British. a person who inspects something officially for the purpose of ascertaining condition, value, etc.
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(formerly) a U.S. customs official responsible for ascertaining the quantity and value of imported merchandise.
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(initial capital letter) one of a series of space probes (1966–68) that analyzed lunar soil and obtained other scientific information after soft-landing on the moon.
noun
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a person whose occupation is to survey land or buildings See also quantity surveyor
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a person concerned with the official inspection of something for purposes of measurement and valuation
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a person who carries out surveys, esp of ships ( marine surveyor ) to determine seaworthiness, etc
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a customs official
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archaic a supervisor
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of surveyor
1375–1425; late Middle English surveio ( u ) r < Anglo-French surveiour; Middle French surve ( i ) our, equivalent to surve ( i )- ( see survey) + -our -or 2
Explanation
A surveyor is someone who estimates or measures the dimensions of land. Surveyors help make maps, and are important when planning new buildings. To survey is to measure the dimensions of land, including acreage and altitude. A surveyor is an engineer who measures such dimensions as a profession. The government needs surveyors to map the boundaries of zones and districts. When constructing new buildings, surveyors help determine how much land is being built on, what size the building should be, and how the altitude might influence the process. If you like math, planning, and building, you might enjoy being a surveyor.
Vocabulary lists containing surveyor
My Brother Sam is Dead
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George Washington, Spymaster
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Race to the Sun
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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.
Apart from the Walden adventure, Thoreau appeared as a public speaker and worked as a surveyor and in his father’s very successful pencil factory, for which he created some important innovations.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Ibrahim, 52, is a former surveyor in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa, who quit his job in 2015 to try his luck.
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026
The 53-year-old, who still lives in Dundee, now works as a surveyor.
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026
Building surveyor, David Walter, says the insulation wasn't fitted correctly and says the installer ''didn't understand what they were doing and what they were doing to the building which is why we've got these problems.''
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
With little formal schooling, Washington became a surveyor in his teens, measuring and mapping Virginia’s enormous, unsettled wilderness.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
