From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfindfind1 /faɪnd/ ●●● S1 W1 verb (past tense and past participle found /faʊnd/) [transitive] 1 get by searchingFIND to discover, see, or get something that you have been searching for I can’t find the car keys. Hold on while I find a pen. Her body was later found hidden in the bushes. I have to find somewhere else to live. She had almost given up hope of finding a husband.find somebody something Tony asked us to find him office facilities in New York. Her mother went to the shops, and on her return, Kathleen was nowhere to be found (=could not be found).2 see by chanceFIND to discover something by chance, especially something useful or interesting I found a purse in the street. We found a nice pub near the hotel.3 discover state of somebody/somethingFIND OUT to discover that someone or something is in a particular condition or doing a particular thing when you see or touch them I’m sure we’ll find her hard at work when we get home. He tried the door and found it unlocked. She woke to find a man by her bed.find somebody/something doing something Often he found her quietly weeping alone.find (that) She looked at her glass and was amazed to find it was empty.4 do something without meaning toFIND OUT to be in a particular state or do a particular thing, or to realize that this is happening, especially when you did not expect or intend it After wandering around, we found ourselves back at the hotel.find yourself/your mind etc doing something When he left, Karen found herself heaving a huge sigh of relief. She tried to concentrate, but found her mind drifting back to Alex.find (that) He found he was shivering.5 learn something by studyFINDFIND OUT to discover or learn something by study, tests, sums etc The federal government isn’t doing enough to find a cure. How do you find the square root of 20?be found to do something The liquid was found to contain 7.4g of phenylamine.find that His study found that married men and women had similar spending patterns.GrammarIn more formal English, you say it was found that something was true: It was found that over 50% of children had seen the ad. 6 think/feelTHINK/HAVE THE OPINION THAT to have a particular feeling or opinion, or to have a particular feeling or opinion about someone or something Will Gary and Gail find happiness together?find something/somebody easy/useful/interesting etc She found the work very dull. Lots of women I know find him attractive. I found them quite easy to use.find it hard/easy/difficult etc (to do something) Hyperactive children find it difficult to concentrate.7 experienceLEARN to have the experience of discovering that something happens or is truefind (that) You might find that his work improves now he’s at a new school. I find people are often surprised at how little it costs.find somebody/something doing something I think you’ll find more women entering the film business now.find somebody/something to be something I found the people to be charming and very friendly.8 → be found somewhere9 get enough money/time etcENOUGH to succeed in getting enough of something, especially money, time, or energy, to be able to do something He’s struggling to find the money for the trip. Where are we going to find the time, the support, and the resources to do all this?10 in a court of law to make an official decision in a court of lawfind somebody guilty/not guilty (of something) Both men were found guilty of illegally entering the country.find in somebody’s favour The tribunal found in favour of the defendant.11 → find your way (somewhere)12 → find its way somewhere13 → find comfort/pleasure/fulfilment etc in something14 → find fault with somebody/something15 → find it in your heart/yourself to do something16 → find yourself17 → find favour (with somebody/something)18 → find your feet19 → find its mark/target20 → find your voice21 → be found wantingTHESAURUSfind to get or see something that you have been searching forHave you found your passport yet?Police later found the car abandoned in a wood.discover to find something that was hidden or that people did not know about beforeA second bomb has been discovered in south London.locate formal to find the exact position of somethingThe airline are still trying to locate my luggage. Online maps make it easy to locate almost any place in the world.come across something to find something unexpectedly when you are not looking for itI came across some old letters from my father in my drawer.stumble on/across something to find something unexpectedly, especially something very importantThey may have stumbled across some vital evidence.Completely by chance we had stumbled on the biggest hit of the year.trace to find someone or something that has disappeared, especially by a careful process of collecting informationShe had given up all hope of tracing her missing daughter.track somebody/something down to find someone or something that is difficult to find by searching in different placesI’ve been trying to track down a book that’s out of print.The police managed to track down the killer.unearth to find something that has been hidden or lost for a long time, by digging or searching for itIn 1796, a carved stone was unearthed near the burial mound. → find against somebody → find for somebody → find out→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
find• I really need to find a better job.• Scientists still haven't found a cure for AIDS.• Medical researchers are determined to find a cure for cancer.• I have a better chance of winning the lottery than of finding a man to marry.• With over 30 million subscribers, the main problem is finding a username you might want.• I found a wallet full of cash and credit cards in the parking lot.• Jenny found an apartment in Brooklyn.• Your goal is to understand these natural tendencies and use your understanding to help her find better ways to cope.• Bodies up to 2,000 years old have been found buried in the peat bogs of central England.• It's crucial that we find cleaner ways of generating electricity.• The Blue Moon is easy to find: Get off Highway 78 at 23rd Avenue and go right.• Luis was gone, and she had no way of ever finding him again.• She said she found it shocking that low-level aides in the Clinton White House were allowed to handle such sensitive documents.• I've looked everywhere, but I can't find my sunglasses.• Zen made no attempt to find out what was showing.• The murder weapon was found outside the house.• It took us half an hour to find somewhere to park.• We try to find suppliers who still make these things.• In a recent survey, the IoD found that 43% of its female members were childless.• Researchers found that smokers were more likely to get depressed than non-smokers.• Did you manage to find the house without too much trouble?• He wasn't surprised to find the marsh blanketed in a thick fog.• If I can find the money, I'll come to the theatre with you.• I'd love to learn a foreign language, but I can't find the time right now.• I haven't found the time to read Morrison's latest novel yet.• One day in January 1950, following a presidential speech, the two found themselves in the same Capitol elevator.• Have you found your passport yet?nowhere to be found• Amelia Otis's name is nowhere to be found.• He had been searching for Morthen, to protect her from his violent half-brother, but she was nowhere to be found.• Master Yehudi was nowhere to be found.• The prison director ordered a search, but the prisoner was nowhere to be found.• The third he put on clean on Thursday morning and it is nowhere to be found.• These were nowhere to be found.• Today he's nowhere to be found.• When a game was on the line, Carr was nowhere to be found.find (that)• One thing I find about living in the big city is that people are more friendly than I expected.• I found I was really looking forward to going back to work.• This month, another family hopes to find justice in an execution.• I found myself looking into my own distorted face.• They can be found near the village of Martigne-Ferchaud, near Rennes, Brittany.• Pretty soon she found out she was pregnant.• I had gone believing that I would find plenty of eggs and fish from Lake Balaton - apparently a delicacy.• Maybe she'd even find some one else, though I doubted it.• If Marie waits too long, she may find that even Arnold is no longer interested in her.• She's found that people aren't always eager for change.find (that)• This month, another family hopes to find justice in an execution.• I found myself looking into my own distorted face.• They can be found near the village of Martigne-Ferchaud, near Rennes, Brittany.• Pretty soon she found out she was pregnant.• I had gone believing that I would find plenty of eggs and fish from Lake Balaton - apparently a delicacy.• Maybe she'd even find some one else, though I doubted it.find that• Researchers have found that 67% of all American mothers now work outside the home.• When the code was broken, it was found that he had been taking placebo rather than ursodeoxycholic acid.• When he found that his theory exactly predicted the path of Mercury, he was beside himself with happiness for days.• They go from one set of arms to another, hoping to find that lasting union with the beloved.• Not finding that possible in the established routine of a firm practice, he retreated to academe.• When he inquired how much the boat cost, he found that the price was about $ 400.• They were disappointed to find that the seismic snapshots were too blurry to support those kinds of mental leaps.• In Belfast, however, we found that the three inner-city communities differed in the degree of focusing they exhibited.• And when they got back to their hotel, they found that their rooms had been burglarized.find it hard/easy/difficult etc (to do something)• As a small company of 15 boys we find it hard to make ends meet.• Cindy found it hard to help Robbie stay logical when he was getting fragmented.• Former lorry driver Leonard Marder finds it difficult to walk because of an infected leg caused by varicose veins.• He found it hard to believe, but she still seemed to trust him.• He took out a cigarette and lit it, finding it hard to look into her probing eyes.• Many heterosexuals find it hard to believe that a third of gay men in the seventies had over a thousand lifetime partners.• They were finding it hard to make ends meet and life had become very miserable.• Without such a merger, Palatine will find it difficult to grow and will ultimately decline.find somebody/something to be something• Around Roscoff, Staiger found shell thicknesS to be associated with chromosome number.• Researchers have found the soil to be infested with around 500 grubs per square metre instead of the usual five or so.• Venetian porters weren t always easy to find and appeared to be octogenarians when you did find them.• The Presbyterians had found it easy to be patriots for many reasons.• Modern entrepreneurs often find meaningful work to be play.• He found this to be so in relation to line editor, amendment routines and dose codes.• She has always taken an interest in youth organisations and finds time to be treasurer of the West Bank Scouts movement.• We found them to be very determined and had one helping as a range officer.find in somebody’s favour• The jury has found in my favour.findfind2 ●○○ noun [countable] 1 → a find2 something that someone finds, especially by digging or by searching under water important archaeological findsExamples from the Corpus
find• New finds and new technologies have brought more gold into the market.• That little Greek restaurant was a real find.• Archaeological sources Hardly a week goes by without a report in the press of some find of archaeological importance.• I reported the find to the landowner and then the Coroner, and subsequently an inquest was held on 13 December 1991.• They reported the find Wednesday in Nature magazine.• The find was announced by a Rutgers University team.• The old pine settle is another treasured find.From Longman Business Dictionaryfindfind /faɪnd/ verb (past tense and past participle found /faʊnd/) [transitive]1if you find work or employment, you get a job or some work. If you find someone to do a job, you employ them to do that jobKarenfound a job with a major travel company after she completed her course.an assignment tofind a chief executivefor the American Council of Life Insurance2to discover or learn something by study or RESEARCHWe found 36% of customers interviewed said they had to wait between five and 10 minutes to be served.The survey found that these drivers were more likely to drive badly and break the law. —findings noun [plural]The findings show that 16 percent of students went on to take vocational or business courses.Following the on-site inspection, the findings are analysed and the surveyor prepares a written report.3LAW if someone ACCUSED of a crime is found guilty or innocent, a court of law decides that they are guilty or innocent of that crimebe found guilty/innocent of somethingAll the senior executives were found guilty of conspiring to mislead the markets during the £837 million Blue Arrow rights issue.4find for/against somebodyLAW to decide in a court of law whether someone is innocent or guilty of a crimeThe Board of Review allowed the taxpayer’s appeal, but the High Court found for the Commissioner.If the court finds against the bank, its bosses might be replaced with central-bank appointees. —finding noun [countable usually plural]Accountants inevitably greeted the court’s finding with some concern.If the appellant is dissatisfied with the findings of the Appeal Committee, he may seek judicial review of the decision in the courts.5COMPUTINGif you find a computer file, you bring it up on your screen so that you can read it or write in itWindows lets you find a file without having to remember which program you were using when you created it.6informal if you find an amount of money, you have enough money to allow you to do somethingThe first-time buyer has to find a deposit of 5% or more of the property price.→ See Verb tableOrigin find1 Old English findan 