find

verb

\ˈfīnd

found\ ˈfau̇nd

\; finding

Definition of find

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to come upon often accidentally : encounter found a $10 bill on the ground

b : to meet with (a particular reception) hoped to find favor

2a : to come upon by searching or effort must find a suitable person for the job

b : to discover by study or experiment find an answer

c : to obtain by effort or management find the time to study

d : attain, reach the bullet found its mark

3a : to discover by the intellect or the feelings : experience find much pleasure in your company

b : to perceive (oneself) to be in a certain place or condition found himself in prison awaiting deportation found himself on the verge of bankruptcy

c : to gain or regain the use or power of trying to find his tongue

d : to bring (oneself) to a realization of one's powers or of one's proper sphere of activity must help the student to find himself as an individual— N. M. Pusey

4a : provide, supply

b : to furnish (room and board) especially as a condition of employment he was chopping by day's work—75 cents a day—and found himself— Herman Melville

5 : to determine and make a statement about find a verdict found her guilty

intransitive verb

: to determine a case judicially by a verdict find for the defendant

find fault

: to criticize unfavorably

find

noun

Definition of find (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an act or instance of finding

2 : something found: such as

a : a valuable discovery an archaeological find

b : a person whose ability proves to be unexpectedly good

Other Words from find Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about find

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of find in a Sentence

Verb

He found a dollar on the ground. The well diggers found a number of Native American artifacts. After an hour of searching, I finally found my glasses. We need to find a suitable person for the job. She found the answer at last. They claim to have found a more efficient way to run the business. researchers trying to find a cure for cancer You must find time to do it. I found a way to pay for college without taking out any loans. She found the courage to address the crowd.

Noun

That antique she bought at the flea market was a real find. That new secretary of yours is a real find!

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Most of these mutations are rare, but Casanova says his lab recently found a defect that causes vulnerability to TB and is present in one in 600 people of European ancestry and one in 1,000 humans. — Claudia Wallis, Scientific American, "Extreme Flu? Weird Encephalitis? It May Be Your Genes," 13 July 2018 Or even one of those weird, puny, overcooked Kix bits found at the bottom of the cereal box. — Marci Robin, Allure, "Beauty Mark Makeover: Why I Chose to Reduce the Size of My Mole Instead of Getting It Removed," 13 July 2018 The social media giant has conducted internal surveys and found that most intend to stay at the company, Harrison said. — Jaclyn Gallucci, Fortune, "Facebook Named Best Company to Work For in the U.S. by Indeed," 12 July 2018 But in the black-and-white photos that Jennings found, the walls around the murals are decorated with elaborate paint and fronted by faux marble columns, compliments of Hopffgarten’s brush. — Maria L. La Ganga, idahostatesman, "What’s behind ’60s-era paneling at El Korah Shrine? A ballroom’s worth of ’20s art.," 12 July 2018 If the front office can also find a way to offload deals for Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee, the Knicks could have space for two max players. — Andrew Sharp, SI.com, "Kevin Knox, Wendell Carter Jr., and Midsummer Hope for the Knicks and Bulls," 13 July 2018 At nearly two dozen properties, inspectors found 20-plus violations each; four had more than 40 violations. — Kevin Crowe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'He'll evict you in a minute.' Landlord quietly becomes a force in Milwaukee rental business...and eviction court," 13 July 2018 An inspector general report blamed Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page for creating an appearance of impropriety through their texts but found that the outcome of the Clinton investigation wasn't tainted by bias. — Author: Eric Tucker, Mary Clare Jalonick, Anchorage Daily News, "FBI agent clashes with GOP at hearing on Russia probe," 13 July 2018 Two men were found fatally shot in Detroit — one on Friday night and the other Saturday morning — according to Detroit Police Department. — Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Police investigate two fatal shootings on city's east side," 14 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

News of the enormous energy find also brought stark warnings from environmentalists about the potential danger to the San Solomon Springs, which feed the Balmorhea pool. — John Maccormack, San Antonio Express-News, "Rash of earthquakes prompts fear of oil boom in Balmorhea," 15 June 2018 In one of the more remarkable lidar finds, Gheyle identified traces of where a small group of Allied soldiers made camp for the night, including the protective sandbags around the tents, in a copse of trees some seven miles behind the front. — Nick Stockton, WIRED, "Laser-Shooting Planes Uncover the Horror and Humanity of World War I," 9 July 2018 Read on for the some of the most unusual finds from the depths of Wayfair. — Emma Alpern, Curbed, "The most unusual finds on Wayfair," 2 May 2018 Some of those finds might be small and rocky, like Earth. — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "Liftoff! TESS, NASA's new planet-hunting space telescope, is now in space," 18 Apr. 2018 Many early apartments were abandoned, but a few of the better finds were passed along. — Kim Velsey, New York Times, "The Most Coveted Hand-Me-Down: An Apartment in the City," 5 Mar. 2018 For one thing, most of Kepler's finds are still planet candidates at this point, meaning other scientists need to confirm that Kepler wasn't seeing some anomaly such as a small star passing in front of a larger one. — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, "Kepler Planet-Hunting Telescope in Peril," 15 May 2013 Another curious find from the recent study was traces of bracken, a type of fern, in Ötzi’s stomach. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Before He Died, Ötzi the Iceman Ate a Greasy, Fatty Meal," 13 July 2018 Born to Mary Ruth Kowalski and Orrin W. Thompson, on a kitchen table in an Ellington farmhouse on Halloween night, Tommy spent his boyhood in mischief of fantastic finds. — courant.com, "Orrin W. Thompson," 7 July 2018

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

History and Etymology for find

Verb

Middle English, from Old English findan; akin to Old High German findan to find, Latin pont-, pons bridge, Greek pontos sea, Sanskrit patha way, course

Noun

see find entry 1

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about find

Dictionary Entries near find

Statistics for find

Last Updated

10 Nov 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for find

The first known use of find was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for find

find

verb

English Language Learners Definition of find

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to discover (something or someone) without planning or trying to : to discover (something or someone) by chance

: to get or discover (something or someone that you are looking for)

: to discover or learn (something) by studying about it

find

noun

English Language Learners Definition of find (Entry 2 of 2)

: something or someone that has been found; especially : a valuable person or thing that has been found or discovered

See the full definition for find in the English Language Learners Dictionary

find

verb

\ˈfīnd

found\ ˈfau̇nd \; finding

Kids Definition of find

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to come upon by chance He found a dime.

2 : to come upon or get by searching, study, or effort She finally found the answer. I found some free time.

3 : to make a decision about The jury found her guilty.

4 : to know by experience I find this Web site useful.

5 : to gain or regain the use of I found my voice again.

6 : to become aware of being in a place, condition, or activity Omri found himself wondering … where his magnifying glass was.— Lynne Reid Banks, The Indian in the Cupboard