explorer

noun

ex·​plor·​er ik-ˈsplȯr-ər 

1

: one that explores

especially : a person who travels in search of geographical or scientific information

2

capitalized : a member of a coed scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America for young people ages 14 to 20 focusing on career awareness

Examples of explorer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Under the president’s new blueprints for NASA, the agency looks set to depend on Elon Musk’s outfit to loft future Moon explorers aboard the SpaceX Starship from the Kennedy Space Center as SLS flights are aborted. —Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025

The Titanic’s final resting place was far from Ballard’s only discovery in a long, distinguished career as a scientist and explorer. —Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2025

So, this mass misstatement is no help to those erstwhile interstellar explorers. —Don Lincoln, Big Think, 29 Aug. 2025

Two married sea-explorers are stranded, Gilligan-style, after a storm shipwrecks their craft. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for explorer

• restorer
• borer
• corer
• horror
• maurer
• scorer
• storer

Kids Definition

explorer

noun

ex·​plor·​er ik-ˈsplōr-ər 

-ˈsplȯr-

1

: one that explores

a vehicle called the lunar explorer

especially : a person who travels in search of new geographical or scientific information

2

capitalized : a member of the scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America for young people 14 to 20 years old

Medical Definition

explorer

noun

ex·​plor·​er ik-ˈsplōr-ər, -ˈsplȯr- 

: an instrument for exploring cavities especially in teeth : probe sense 1