discover
    v 1: discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of;
         "She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water";
         "We found traces of lead in the paint" [syn: detect,
         observe, find, discover, notice]
    2: get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally; "I
       learned that she has two grown-up children"; "I see that you
       have been promoted" [syn: learn, hear, get word, get
       wind, pick up, find out, get a line, discover,
       see]
    3: make a discovery, make a new finding; "Roentgen discovered
       X-rays"; "Physicists believe they found a new elementary
       particle" [syn: discover, find]
    4: make a discovery; "She found that he had lied to her"; "The
       story is false, so far as I can discover" [syn: discover,
       find]
    5: find unexpectedly; "the archeologists chanced upon an old
       tomb"; "she struck a goldmine"; "The hikers finally struck
       the main path to the lake" [syn: fall upon, strike, come
       upon, light upon, chance upon, come across, chance
       on, happen upon, attain, discover]
    6: make known to the public information that was previously
       known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a
       secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at
       which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how
       old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to
       her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case" [syn:
       unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal,
       discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let
       out]
    7: see for the first time; make a discovery; "Who discovered the
       North Pole?"
    8: identify as in botany or biology, for example [syn:
       identify, discover, key, key out, distinguish,
       describe, name]

Discover \Dis*cov"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discovered; p. pr.
   & vb. n. Discovering.] [OE. discoveren, discuren, descuren,
   OF. descovrir, descouvrir, F. d['e]couvrir; des- (L. dis-) +
   couvrir to cover. See Cover.]
   1. To uncover. [Obs.]
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            Whether any man hath pulled down or discovered any
            church.                               --Abp.
                                                  Grindal.
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   2. To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to
      reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret,
      unseen, or unknown). [Archaic]
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            Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover
            The several caskets to this noble prince. --Shak.
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            Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity
            doth best discover virtue.            --Bacon.
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            We will discover ourselves unto them. --1 Sam. xiv.
                                                  8.
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            Discover not a secret to another.     --Prov. xxv.
                                                  9.
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   3. To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of
      a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to
      find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect. [WordNet sense
      1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
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            Some to discover islands far away.    --Shak.
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   4. To manifest without design; to show.
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            The youth discovered a taste for sculpture. --C. J.
                                                  Smith.
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   5. To explore; to examine. [Obs.]

   Syn: To disclose; bring out; exhibit; show; manifest; reveal;
        communicate; impart; tell; espy; find; out; detect. --
        To Discover, Invent. We discover what existed
        before, but remained unknown; we invent by forming
        combinations which are either entirely new, or which
        attain their end by means unknown before. Columbus
        discovered America; Newton discovered the law of
        gravitation; Whitney invented the cotton gin; Galileo
        invented the telescope.
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Discover \Dis*cov"er\, v. i.
   To discover or show one's self. [Obs.]
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         This done, they discover.                --Decker.
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         Nor was this the first time that they discovered to be
         followers of this world.                 --Milton.
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