as in searching
to go into or range over for purposes of discovery
soon all manner of people had arrived in the valley to prospect it for gold
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Recent Examples of prospecting
That means prospecting for lunar helium-3 starts by simply making mineralogical maps of the moon’s surface.
—
Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 14 May 2026
The price of the precious metal has skyrocketed—briefly surpassing a record five thousand dollars an ounce earlier this spring—and, as Jennifer Wilson reports from the American West for this week’s special issue, this has led to a boom in prospecting not seen since the days of the forty-niners.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
From a robot that can handwrite hundreds of real estate prospecting cards in minutes to a digital consultant that can narrow down thousands of mortgage options for a client, artificial intelligence has finally arrived in the real estate industry.
—Amancai Biraben, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Elements of the vision unveiled by Isaacman and other NASA officials last week, such as deep space nuclear propulsion, nuclear reactors on the Moon, and prospecting for lunar resources, will require significant investment in new space technology.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 3 Apr. 2026
The telegraph-poling parties found traces of gold in the stony hills around Pine Creek, south of Darwin, and in 1872 gold-prospecting parties began to arrive through Port Darwin.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
The three water companies were founded more than a century ago, when Los Angeles was still a fledgling town surrounded by farms, and miners were prospecting for gold on the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Appointment Setting As The Output Of Lead Generation Most account executives are capable of prospecting, particularly earlier in their careers.
—Jeff Winters, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Over a year ago, our sales team identified prospecting as the biggest bottleneck in its daily workflows.
—Dennis Woodside, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025
Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 14 May 2026
The price of the precious metal has skyrocketed—briefly surpassing a record five thousand dollars an ounce earlier this spring—and, as Jennifer Wilson reports from the American West for this week’s special issue, this has led to a boom in prospecting not seen since the days of the forty-niners.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
From a robot that can handwrite hundreds of real estate prospecting cards in minutes to a digital consultant that can narrow down thousands of mortgage options for a client, artificial intelligence has finally arrived in the real estate industry.
—Amancai Biraben, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Elements of the vision unveiled by Isaacman and other NASA officials last week, such as deep space nuclear propulsion, nuclear reactors on the Moon, and prospecting for lunar resources, will require significant investment in new space technology.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 3 Apr. 2026
The telegraph-poling parties found traces of gold in the stony hills around Pine Creek, south of Darwin, and in 1872 gold-prospecting parties began to arrive through Port Darwin.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
The three water companies were founded more than a century ago, when Los Angeles was still a fledgling town surrounded by farms, and miners were prospecting for gold on the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Appointment Setting As The Output Of Lead Generation Most account executives are capable of prospecting, particularly earlier in their careers.
—Jeff Winters, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Over a year ago, our sales team identified prospecting as the biggest bottleneck in its daily workflows.
—Dennis Woodside, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prospecting
Verb
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Rescue teams began searching for the daredevil and found his body about three feet below the crater's water surface after rescue efforts that lasted about four and a half hours.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
15 June 2026
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Across the country, workers who once expected to rely entirely on traditional employment are now searching for something more stable, flexible, and lasting.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Verb
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The company said the demonstrations will help validate the technologies in operational settings and could support future defense opportunities as the military continues exploring autonomous systems, drone swarms, and human-machine teaming concepts for battlefield operations.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
18 June 2026
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The company is actively exploring opportunities to expand its 48-volt mild hybrid architecture, which is likely to percolate throughout the lineup over time.—
Byron Hurd,
The Drive,
18 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prospecting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prospecting. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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