exploratory

adjective

ex·plor·ato·ry | \ ik-ˈsplȯr-ə-ˌtȯr-ē

Definition of exploratory

: of, relating to, or being exploration exploratory surgery exploratory drilling for oil

Examples of exploratory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ortiz underwent what the Red Sox described as exploratory surgery Monday night at Massachusetts General Hospital, a day after he was shot in the back in his native Dominican Republic. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Infections are the big worry after abdominal injuries like those suffered by Ortiz, doctors say," 11 June 2019 First-term Democratic state Sen. Eddie Melton is forming an exploratory committee to consider a run for the governor’s office in 2020. — Carole Carlson, Post-Tribune, "Gary Democrat Eddie Melton weighing bid for governor," 4 June 2019 Some have seen their task as psychic spelunking, deep exploratory work that can only be undermined by literary preciousness. — Christopher Beha, Harper's magazine, "Mallo My!," 10 Mar. 2019 Two years ago, Alice Agogino, a UC-Berkeley mechanical engineering professor, was working on a contract to build exploratory robots for NASA Ames. — Popular Mechanics, "The Squishy Robots That Could Save the World," 13 May 2019 Griswold Middle School's exploratory team gave family and friends a musical (and tasty) walk down memory lane, on March 22, with its third annual dinner theater production, held at the GMS cafeteria. — Courant Community, "GMS Serves Up Musical Memories At Dinner Theater," 3 Apr. 2018 Local groups are currently fighting attempts by a Canadian mining company to conduct exploratory drilling. — Nancy Keates, WSJ, "A Modern Second-Home Retreat for Seattle’s Tech Elite," 19 Sep. 2018 The stones - between 2mm and 4mm - were not visible on a CT scan, but doctors conducted emergency exploratory surgery expecting to find around 20 masses. — Fox News, "Surgeon removes 4,100 gallstones from patient complaining of abdominal pain," 29 May 2018 Shortly after announcing her exploratory committee, Warren hired Brendan Summers, who managed Sanders’ 2016 Iowa campaign. — Juana Summers, The Seattle Times, "Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s running for president in 2020," 20 Feb. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exploratory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.