EXAMINE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does examine mean? 

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

1. consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning

2. observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect

3. question or examine thoroughly and closely

4. question closely

5. put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

  Familiarity information: EXAMINE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXAMINE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they examine    ... he / she / it examines   
Past simple: examined   
Past participle: examined   
-ing form: examining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study

Context example:

analyze your real motives

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

diagnose; name (determine or distinguish the nature of a problem or an illness through a diagnostic analysis)

anatomize (analyze down to the smallest detail)

consider; look at; view (look at carefully; study mentally)

sieve; sift (check and sort carefully)

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

follow; trace (follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something)

screen (examine methodically)

audit; inspect; scrutinise; scrutinize (examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification)

reexamine; review (look at again; examine again)

assay (analyze (chemical substances))

check; check into; check out; check over; check up on; go over; look into; suss out (examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition)

compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)

survey (make a survey of; for statistical purposes)

appraise; survey (consider in a comprehensive way)

diagnose (subject to a medical analysis)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue examine the movie

Derivation:

examination (a detailed inspection of your conscience (as done daily by Jesuits))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

examine; see

Context example:

I must see your passport before you can enter the country

"Examine" entails doing...:

look (perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards)

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

search (subject to a search)

check (make an examination or investigation)

inspect (look over carefully)

look; search (search or seek)

scrutinise; scrutinize; size up; take stock (to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail)

peruse (examine or consider with attention and in detail)

scan (examine minutely or intensely)

glance over; rake; run down; scan; skim (examine hastily)

survey (look over carefully or inspect)

auscultate (examine by auscultation)

autopsy (perform an autopsy on a dead body; do a post-mortem)

candle (examine eggs for freshness by holding them against a light)

x-ray (examine by taking x-rays)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The customs agents examine the bags for drugs

Derivation:

examination (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

examiner (an investigator who observes carefully)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Question or examine thoroughly and closely

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

examine; probe

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

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

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

enquire; inquire; investigate (conduct an inquiry or investigation of)

hear; try (examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process)

re-examine (question after cross-examination by opposing counsel)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

examination (the act of giving students or candidates a test (as by questions) to determine what they know or have learned)

examination (formal systematic questioning)

examination (a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Question closely

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

query; question (pose a question)

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

quiz; test (examine someone's knowledge of something)

cross examine; cross question (question closely, or question a witness that has already been questioned by the opposing side)

catechise; catechize (examine through questioning and answering)

grill (examine thoroughly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

examination (the act of giving students or candidates a test (as by questions) to determine what they know or have learned)

examination (formal systematic questioning)

examination (a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge)

examinee (someone who is tested (as by an intelligence test or an academic examination))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

essay; examine; prove; test; try; try out

Context example:

Test this recipe

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

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

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

control; verify (check or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard)

float (circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with)

field-test (test something under the conditions under which it will actually be used)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

examination (the act of giving students or candidates a test (as by questions) to determine what they know or have learned)

examination (a detailed inspection of your conscience (as done daily by Jesuits))

examination (a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge)

examiner (someone who administers a test to determine your qualifications)

 Context examples 

He examined the carpet and the window.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have also examined every stable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a radius of ten miles.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could force nothing on him but a footman’s tooth, which I observed him to examine with great curiosity, and found he had a fancy for it.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Think of Pluto, now in Capricorn, as the planet that comes into the basement of your house, a little like a building inspector, complete with flashlight and hardhat, to examine its foundations.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

An international team led by Tufts University set out to directly examine the relationship between levels of omega-3s in the body and the onset of heart disease.

(Omega-3s linked with lower risk of fatal heart attacks, NIH)

Researchers examined the last 50 years’ growth of a stalagmite in the Mawmluh cave of India’s Meghalaya state.

(Cave stalagmites reveal India’s rainfall secrets, SciDev.Net)

We intend to examine when rejectors are motivated to feel better about themselves and when they would rather put the rejectee's needs ahead of their own.

(Sometimes You Shouldn't Say Sorry, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But when he examined the wheel, he discovered no repairs had been made.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I turned to re-examine Thomas Mugridge’s work.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)