Link Centre Dictionary

probe

UK/pɹəʊb/ US/pɹoʊb/ fairly common
verb (2) noun (4)

verb

1.
2.

examine physically with or as if with a probe

  • “probe an anthill”
Synonyms

noun

1.

an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities

  • “there was a congressional probe into the scandal”
Synonyms
2.

a flexible slender surgical instrument used to explore wounds or body cavities

3.
4.

an investigation conducted using a probe instrument

Origin

For verb: borrowed from Latin probare (“to test, examine, prove”), from probus (“good”). Doublet of prove. For noun: borrowed from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from probare (“to test, examine, prove”); Doublet of proof. Compare Spanish tienta (“a surgeon's probe”), from tentar (“try, test”); see tempt.

Phrases

  • armed probe
  • Bracewell probe
  • lambda probe
  • light probe
  • reflection probe
  • space probe
  • von Neumann probe

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.