find out

verb

found out; finding out; finds out

transitive verb

1
: to learn by study, observation, or search : discover
2
a
: to catch in an offense (such as a crime)
the culprits were soon found out
b
: to ascertain the true character or identity of
the informer was found out

intransitive verb

: to discover, learn, or verify something
I don't know, but I'll find out for you

Examples of find out in a Sentence

that was around the time that I found out I was adopted found out about the new restaurant by reading reviews online
Recent Examples on the Web Advertisement After two early January SoCal quakes (a 4.1 magnitude on New Year’s Day and a 4.2 four days later), The Times conducted an informal survey to find out more about the chronically earthquake-oblivious. Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024 To find out which civil rights monuments fall along your route, consult this interactive mapping tool from the US Civil Rights Trail, a project that documents more than 100 important landmarks across 15 Southern states. Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Apr. 2024 Directors David Redmon and Ashley Sabin travel to the small Italian town to find out what became of Kim’s collection—and hopefully return it to New York. Erik Morse, Vogue, 15 Apr. 2024 Also on this week's show, find out why more hummingbirds are calling Arizona home starting this month, as the warmer weather sets in around the state. Rafael Carranza, The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024 This college student has already decided to leave Enya Cid doesn’t plan to stick around to find out. Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024 But months later, investigators would find out that Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy were hiding a sinister, deadly plot behind their posts and were ultimately responsible for Neese's death. Kieran McGirl, ABC News, 12 Apr. 2024 That's when the Campbells found out Lenkoff was in some medical facility, and took it upon themselves to help with medical needs, pay for food and a hotel room, and connect her with her family, Gies said. Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 2 Apr. 2024 Perplexity, a hot new AI search service, is experimenting to find out. David Meyer, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'find out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of find out was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near find out

Cite this Entry

“Find out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/find%20out. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

find out

verb
1
: to learn by study, observation, or search : discover
2
: to catch doing something bad
the culprit was found out

More from Merriam-Webster on find out

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