discover
part of speech
verb (discover, discovers, discovered, discovering)
meaning for a pupil
1) To find something for the first time, or to find something that was hidden or unknown. tree →
2) To find out a fact or learn something you did not know before. tree →
3) To notice or start to enjoy something new: She discovered a love of painting. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons people discover new animals, planets and medicines; in history explorers «discover» places, though often other people already lived there; in maths you can discover a pattern or rule. Phrases: «discover that…», «discover a pattern», «make a discovery».
examples
- Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- Scientists discovered a new kind of frog in the rainforest. tree →
- I discovered a coin under the sofa. tree →
- We discovered that the shop was closed. tree →
- In maths we discovered that every even number can be split into two equal halves. tree →
- She discovered a love of reading on holiday. tree →
- Who discovered how to make electricity work for us? tree →
- The children discovered a secret path in the woods. tree →
- Alone you will never discover the path that leads to your wife.' tree →
note
Regular verb: discovered. Noun: discovery (discoveries). Discover = find something that already exists; invent = make something new that did not exist (people invent machines but discover planets). Many history books say Europeans «discovered» lands where people already lived — they found them for themselves.
In the corpora
- The mimic octopus, discovered in 1998 off Indonesia, copies the shape and movement of dangerous animals like sea snakes and flatfish.
- Most life on Earth is too small to see with our eyes, and scientists still discover thousands of new microscopic kinds every year.
- The non-stick coating on frying pans is a slippery plastic that food cannot grip; it was discovered by accident in 1938.
- The Chinese discovered that a magnetised needle points north and later used compasses for sailing.
- Pythagoras studied triangles, Archimedes discovered how things float and shouted Eureka, and Eratosthenes measured the size of the Earth with shadows.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «discover» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.