ferret out
phrasal verb
ferreted out; ferreting out; ferrets out
: to find (something, such as information) by careful searching
He's good at ferreting out the facts.
Examples of ferret out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When this sort of explanation is merely an excuse for gender discrimination, courts ferret out the real reason and punish the culprit.
—
Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Taxpayers who believe that enforcement and compliance aren’t as important to tax authorities as before may be caught by surprise, especially as the government increasingly relies on data analytics to ferret out trends and flag outliers.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
And the state has just embarked on its DOGE effort to ferret out wasteful spending.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2025
His first book on the subject was about Aldrich Ames, the Soviet mole inside the C.I.A., who, before finally being ferreted out by the F.B.I., in 1994, handed over the identities of dozens of agency assets.
—Keith Gessen, New Yorker, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ferret out
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Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
Taxpayers who believe that enforcement and compliance aren’t as important to tax authorities as before may be caught by surprise, especially as the government increasingly relies on data analytics to ferret out trends and flag outliers.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
And the state has just embarked on its DOGE effort to ferret out wasteful spending.
—Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2025
His first book on the subject was about Aldrich Ames, the Soviet mole inside the C.I.A., who, before finally being ferreted out by the F.B.I., in 1994, handed over the identities of dozens of agency assets.
—Keith Gessen, New Yorker, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ferret out
Cite this Entry
“Ferret out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ferret%20out. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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