SEEK (sought)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: sought   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does seek mean? 

• SEEK (noun)
  The noun SEEK has 1 sense:

1. the movement of a read/write head to a specific data track on a disk

  Familiarity information: SEEK used as a noun is very rare.

• SEEK (verb)
  The verb SEEK has 5 senses:

1. try to get or reach

2. try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of

3. make an effort or attempt

4. go to or towards

5. inquire for

  Familiarity information: SEEK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEEK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The movement of a read/write head to a specific data track on a disk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("seek" is a kind of...):

motion; movement (a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

• SEEK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they seek    ... he / she / it seeks   
Past simple: sought   
Past participle: sought   
-ing form: seeking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Try to get or reach

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

seek happiness

Hypernyms (to "seek" is one way to...):

desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "seek"):

quest (make a search (for))

bid (make a serious effort to attain something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

seeking (an attempt to acquire or gain something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

look for; search; seek

Context example:

They are searching for the missing man in the entire county

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "seek"):

finger (search for on the computer)

browse; shop (shop around; not necessarily buying)

feel (grope or feel in search of something)

grub (search about busily)

angle; fish (seek indirectly)

go after; pursue; quest after; quest for (go in search of or hunt for)

seek out (look for a specific person or thing)

scour (examine minutely)

gather (look for (food) in nature)

hunt (seek, search for)

leave no stone unturned (search thoroughly and exhaustively)

browse; surf (look around casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular)

divine (search by divining, as if with a rod)

fumble; grope (feel about uncertainly or blindly)

drag; dredge (search (as the bottom of a body of water) for something valuable or lost)

want (hunt or look for; want for a particular reason)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The banks seek the check
Sam cannot seek Sue
They seek the water

Derivation:

seeking (the act of searching for something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make an effort or attempt

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

assay; attempt; essay; seek; try

Context example:

She always seeks to do good in the world

Hypernyms (to "seek" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "seek"):

pick up the gauntlet; take a dare (be dared to do something and attempt it)

fight; struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

give it a try; have a go (make an attempt at something)

grope (search blindly or uncertainly)

endeavor; endeavour; strive (attempt by employing effort)

give it a try; give it a whirl (try)

adventure; chance; gamble; hazard; risk; run a risk; take a chance; take chances (take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome)

lay on the line; put on the line; risk (expose to a chance of loss or damage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They seek to move

Sense 4

Meaning:

Go to or towards

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

a liquid seeks its own level

Hypernyms (to "seek" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Inquire for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

seek directions from a local

Hypernyms (to "seek" is one way to...):

request (inquire for (information))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

 Context examples 

If they do, it is important to seek help.

(Coping with Chronic Illness, NIH)

They alone were alive, and they sought for other things that were alive in order that they might devour them and continue to live.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Once on a time, a knight went out into the world to seek his fortune, for he had nothing but his sword and his shield.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

We made our way back—the whole gorge was not more than a quarter of a mile deep—and then suddenly the quick eyes of Lord John fell upon what we were seeking.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And old Madam Reed, or the Misses, her daughters, will be solicited by you to seek a place, I suppose?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The date of the heart failure event requiring an individual to seek medical attention.

(Date of Heart Failure Prompting Medical Attention, NCI Thesaurus)

I was so far from being warned off from Peggotty's society, that, provided I was not in Mr. Murdstone's, I was never sought out or inquired for.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

While he went wild with happiness when Thornton touched him or spoke to him, he did not seek these tokens.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

They theorized that, during cold spells, people are more likely to seek shelter and so could more easily escape the cold’s effects.

(Extreme temperatures could increase preterm birth risk, NIH)

I knew now well enough where to find the monster I sought.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)