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Discover

1. To uncover. Whether any man hath pulled down or discovered any church. (abp. Grindal)

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). Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince. (Shak) Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue. (Bacon) We will discover ourselves unto them. (1 sam. Xiv. 8) Discover not a secret to another. (Prov. Xxv. 9)

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. Some to discover islands far away. (Shak)

4. To manifest without design; to show. The youth discovered a taste for sculpture. (c. J. Smith)

5. To explore; to examine.

Synonym: 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.

Origin: oe. Discoveren, discuren, descuren, OF. Descovrir, descouvrir, f. Decouvrir; des- (L. Dis-) _ couvrir to cover. See cover.