plural probes
1
: a slender medical instrument used especially for exploration (as of a wound or body cavity)
2
a
: any of various testing devices or substances: such as
(1)
: a pointed metal tip for making electrical contact with a circuit element being checked
(2)
: a usually small object that is inserted into something so as to test conditions at a given point
(3)
: a device used to penetrate or send back information especially from outer space or a celestial body
(4)
: a device (such as an ultrasound generator) or a substance (such as radioactively labeled DNA) used to obtain specific information for diagnostic or experimental purposes
b
: a pipe on the receiving airplane thrust into the drogue of the delivering airplane in air refueling
3
a
: the action of probing
b
: a penetrating or critical investigation
c
: a tentative exploratory advance or survey
probed; probing; probes
1
: to search into and explore very thoroughly : subject to a penetrating investigation
2
: to examine with a probe
uncrewed vehicles probed space
: to make a searching exploratory investigation
prober
noun
Examples of probe in a Sentence
Noun
The FBI probe did not produce any new evidence.
a congressional probe into the accusations
Verb
His questions made it clear he was probing for information.
He didn't like the police probing into his past.
He didn't like the police probing him about his past.
The doctor probed the wound with his finger.
Searchers probed the mud with long poles.
She probed the files for evidence that would help the investigation.
Recent Examples on the Web
Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
With no probe thermometer to measure temperature of foods, a reach-in cooler that measured 51 degrees, another that measured 62 degrees and a small cooler that measured 59 degrees, Stop Sales came down on food that was unsafely not even close to 41 degrees.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
Through intimate interviews with players, coaches, parents, journalists and opponents, director Kevin Shaw probes media bias, racial stereotypes, community pride and the ethical complexities of youth sports—showing how a moment meant to celebrate young athletes became a lasting stigma.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for probe
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Noun
On December 7, 2018, the Chinese launched Chang’e 4 (named for the moon goddess of Chinese mythology) into outer space and landed a probe, named Yutu-2, on the far side of the Moon.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
With no probe thermometer to measure temperature of foods, a reach-in cooler that measured 51 degrees, another that measured 62 degrees and a small cooler that measured 59 degrees, Stop Sales came down on food that was unsafely not even close to 41 degrees.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Verb
Helen sends him on an off-the-books job to the London Mother House to use his mind-probing powers on Jasper (William Fichtner), a powerful vampire with a personal vendetta against the Talamasca.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
Through intimate interviews with players, coaches, parents, journalists and opponents, director Kevin Shaw probes media bias, racial stereotypes, community pride and the ethical complexities of youth sports—showing how a moment meant to celebrate young athletes became a lasting stigma.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for probe
Cite this Entry
“Probe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probe. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
probe
1 of 2 noun1
: a slender medical instrument especially for examining a cavity (as a deep wound)
2
: a device used to penetrate or send back information especially from outer space
3
: a careful investigation
4
: an attempt to explore or learn about some unknown place
a space probe
probe
2 of 2 verb
probed; probing
1
: to examine with or as if with a probe
2
: to investigate thoroughly
prober
noun
Medical Definition
probe
1 of 2 noun1
: a surgical instrument that consists typically of a light slender fairly flexible pointed metal instrument like a small rod that is used typically for locating a foreign body (as a bullet embedded in a part of the body), for exploring a wound or suppurative tract by prodding or piercing, or for penetrating and exploring bodily passages and cavities
2
: a device (as an ultrasound generator) or a substance (as radioactively labeled DNA) used to obtain specific information (as detection of a virus or location of specific segments of a nucleic acid) for diagnostic or experimental purposes
the radioactive probe revealed the distribution of molecules in the membrane
probe
2 of 2 verb
probed; probing
: to examine with or as if with a probe
probe a wound
: to search by using a probe
probe for a bullet
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