SURVEY

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does survey mean? 

• SURVEY (noun)
  The noun SURVEY has 3 senses:

1. a detailed critical inspection

2. short descriptive summary (of events)

3. the act of looking or seeing or observing

  Familiarity information: SURVEY used as a noun is uncommon.

• SURVEY (verb)
  The verb SURVEY has 6 senses:

1. consider in a comprehensive way

2. look over carefully or inspect

3. keep under surveillance

4. hold a review (of troops)

5. make a survey of; for statistical purposes

6. plot a map of (land)

  Familiarity information: SURVEY used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SURVEY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A detailed critical inspection

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

study; survey

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

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

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "survey"):

resurvey (a new survey or study)

Derivation:

survey (consider in a comprehensive way)

survey (hold a review (of troops))

survey (look over carefully or inspect)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Short descriptive summary (of events)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

resume; sketch; survey

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

sum-up; summary (a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form)

Derivation:

survey (consider in a comprehensive way)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of looking or seeing or observing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

sight; survey; view

Context example:

his survey of the battlefield was limited

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

look; looking; looking at (the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "survey"):

eyeful (a full view; a good look)

Derivation:

survey (plot a map of (land))

• SURVEY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they survey ... he / she / it surveys
Past simple: surveyed   
Past participle: surveyed   
-ing form: surveying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consider in a comprehensive way

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

appraise; survey

Context example:

He appraised the situation carefully before acting

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

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study (consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

survey (a detailed critical inspection)

survey (short descriptive summary (of events))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Look over carefully or inspect

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

He surveyed his new classmates

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

examine; see (observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect)

"Survey" entails doing...:

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

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

overlook (watch over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The customs agents survey the bags for drugs

Derivation:

survey (a detailed critical inspection)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Keep under surveillance

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

follow; surveil; survey

Context example:

The police had been following him for weeks but they could not prove his involvement in the bombing

Verb group:

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to survey the prisoners

Sense 4

Meaning:

Hold a review (of troops)

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

go over; review; survey

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

inspect (look over carefully)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

survey (a detailed critical inspection)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make a survey of; for statistical purposes

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study (consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning)

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

canvass; poll (get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

surveyor (someone who conducts a statistical survey)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Plot a map of (land)

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

"Survey" entails doing...:

measure; quantify (express as a number or measure or quantity)

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

triangulate (survey by triangulation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

survey (the act of looking or seeing or observing)

surveying (the practice of measuring angles and distances on the ground so that they can be accurately plotted on a map)

surveyor (an engineer who determines the boundaries and elevations of land or structures)

 Context examples 

If I only had a classical nose and mouth I should be perfectly happy, she said, surveying herself with a critical eye and a candle in each hand.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The pair paused and surveyed the locked dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Our faces—or mine, at least—fell as we surveyed it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He spread the pictures before him, and again surveyed them alternately.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She came out from behind it, with her work in her hand, and joined him in surveying me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

From that vantage point, you will survey all you’ve achieved since Saturn first entered your tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement in December 2017 and be proud of your accomplishments.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Yet we survey the ground round the scene of the tragedy.

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

Elizabeth, after slightly surveying it, went to a window to enjoy its prospect.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

EXAMPLE(S): For a survey question, Have you traveled to Europe between 1990 and 1999?

(Defined Observation Focal Date Range, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

Once orbiting the asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will spend two years surveying it in unprecedented detail.

(Evening Launch Catapults OSIRIS-REx Toward Asteroid Encounter, NASA)