From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdiscoverydis‧cov‧e‧ry /dɪsˈkʌvəri/ ●●○ W3 noun (plural discoveries) 1 [countable]FIND a fact or thing that someone finds out about, when it was not known about beforediscovery about The Hubble Telescope allowed astronomers to make significant discoveries about our galaxy.discovery that the discovery that bees can communicate with each other2 [uncountable]FIND OUT when someone discovers somethingdiscovery of the discovery of oil in AlaskaCOLLOCATIONSverbsmake a discoveryBy making new discoveries we expand our understanding of the natural world.lead to a discoveryIt was pure chance that led to the discovery.ADJECTIVESa new discoveryNew discoveries are being made all the time.a recent discoverythe recent discovery of frozen water on the moona great/major/important discoveryThe archaeologists had made an important discovery.a scientific/medical etc discoveryThe book covers the major scientific discoveries of the last century.an exciting discoveryThe existence of the new solar system was a very exciting discovery.a surprising/unexpected discoveryTheir work led to some surprising discoveries.a startling discovery (=very surprising)When they examined the virus, they made a startling discovery.an accidental/chance discovery (=happening by chance)Some of the tombs were the result of chance discoveries.a grim discovery (=an unpleasant and sad discovery such as finding a dead body)Police made the grim discovery while they were searching the house.
Examples from the Corpus
discovery• New archaeological discoveries prove the existence of an ancient civilization in the Indus Valley.• The chance discovery of a blood-stained shirt led to the capture of the killer.• All these were chance discoveries by scientists engaged in other pursuits.• The depletion of the ozone layer has been one of the most dramatic discoveries about our planet in recent years.• Their preserved counterpart, the sun-dried cherry, is a fairly recent gourmet discovery, however.• Had I made a great discovery?• Dylan, his first independent discovery, later became, wonderfully, a friend.• Photographs of the comet taken shortly after its discovery show a clear but faint tail.• At first I did not realize the importance of my discovery.• If you can get this right, the maturing of your relationship will be an interesting voyage of discovery.• Then in 1991, geomagnetist Brad Clement made a strange discovery.• An investigation was ordered after the discovery that $89,000 was missing from the account.• Among the discoveries of the late nineteenth century were several new chemical elements, including radium.discovery that• This was the first time she had seen Naylor since her discovery that she loved him.• The paper homed in on its discovery that councils could use 5 percent of their pension funds on risk ventures.• For another it may be frustration at the discovery that his body lacks the co-ordination needed to perform a precise movement correctly.• So does the discovery that Phil needs his loyalty.• Far more often, though, the discovery that one's mate is unfaithful leads to a lot of pain.• A second crucial development was the discovery that nerve cells are spontaneously electrically active.• The discovery that the budget was short by $9 million caused immense problems.• The discovery that it is true can be a frightening and instructive process.discovery of• The discovery of oil in Alaska was a boon to the economy.Discovery, thethe DiscoveryDiscovery, the the ship in which Captain Scott went to the Antarctic in 1901–04 