find

verb

1. (transitive)To locate

   “I found this shell on the beach.”

   “She arrived home to find that the house had gone up in flames.”

   “Searching the window for a flint, I found/This paper, thus sealed up.”

   “Among the Woods and Forests thou art found.”

   “I had occasion to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return, much to my surprise, I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station.”

2. (transitive)To locate

   “I found my car keys. They were under the couch.”

   “I went looking for you in the bed we share, but tonight I found you not there.”

   “It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant.”

   “Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too.”

3. (ditransitive)To locate

   “I found you a new place to live”

4. (ditransitive)To discover by study or experiment directed to an object or end.

   “Water is found to be a compound substance.”

   “The researchers found the two variables to be strongly correlated.”

5. (transitive)To gain, as the object of desire or effort.

   “to find leisure; to find means”

   “And in thoſe dayes ſhall men ſeke deeth / and ſhall nott fynde hyt / ſhall deſyre to deye / and deeth ſhall flye frõ them.”

6. (transitive)To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

   “Looks like he found a new vehicle for himself!”

7. (transitive)To meet with; to receive.

   “The proposal found little support within the government.”

   “Among newer procedures, the Robb and Steinberg contrast visualization of cardiac chambers and venous catheterization of the right heart have found the broadest study and application.”

8. (transitive)To point out.

   “He kept finding faults with my work.”

9. (ditransitive)To decide that, to conclude that, to form the opinion that, to consider.

   “I find your argument unsatisfactory.”

   “I found it strange {sleeping - to sleep} in your house last night.”

   “I find you passing gentle.”

   “The torrid zone is now found habitable.”

   ““ the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases.”

10. (transitive)To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.

    “to find a verdict; to find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person”

    “to find his title with some shows of truth”

11. (archaic, transitive)To supply; to furnish.

    “to find food for workmen”

12. (archaic, transitive)To provide for

    “He finds his nephew in money.”

    “They stand idle in the market-place, not because they have not been hired, but because they do not want to be hired; being able to live like the Lazzaroni of Naples, on "Midshipman's half-pay—nothing a day, and find yourself."”

    “the pay is good, the musterer receiving ten shillings a day, and all found, all the time he is engaged on the "run," even should he be compelled to remain idle on account of rain or mist.”

13. (intransitive)To determine or judge.

    “The jury finds for the defendant.”

14. (transitive)To successfully pass to or shoot the ball into.

    “Peters finds Jinkins, who is running down the left wing.”

    “Van Persie scored a hat-trick against Wigan on Saturday and should have found the net again after Bendtner found him at the far post but the Dutchman's header rebounded to safety off the crossbar.”

15. (intransitive)To discover game.

    “They found at once, and there was a short sharp run, during which Linda and Tony, both in a somewhat showing-off mood, rode side by side over the stone walls.”

noun

1. Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.

   “One of the most exciting finds made by Chinese archaeologists within the last twenty years are the sites located in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning Province, particularly the Neolithic Hung-shan culture (c. 3500-2500 B.C.E.).”

   “Shepard: How did you get these things to your father? Tali: Sometimes I left packages at secure drops in civilized areas. Someone on Pilgrimage would see that it was shipped home. Tali: For very valuable finds, I'd signal home, and Father would send a small ship.”

2. The act of finding.