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单词 find
释义

findn.

Brit. /fʌɪnd/, U.S. /faɪnd/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: find v.
Etymology: < find v.
†1. Hunting. A dog that finds the quarry. to back the find: to follow the lead of the finding dog (cf. back v. 9). Cf. finder n. 2. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1776 B. Simonds Treat. Field Diversions 116 The Name of the Find, is Carlo the Name of the young dog Pardo.
1776 B. Simonds Treat. Field Diversions 109 The finishing Stroke is—to make him [sc. a pointer] stop at Sight, and back the Find.
1794 Sporting Mag. Feb. 255/1 I have frequently endeavoured to learn of my sporting friends what were the most valable [sic] qualifications of a pointer; their different replies were, to find the most game, steady when found, to back the find, came into charge, bring the game, &c.
1893 Fores's Sporting Notes & Sketches 10 221 At that moment a hound challenged in covert, another backed the find, and the pack flew together on the line.
2.
a. Hunting. The finding of a fox, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > [noun] > by finding > instance of
find1803
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > [noun] > fox > finding of fox
find1803
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > an act or instance of finding
discovery?a1560
find1803
1803 W. Taplin Sporting Dict. I. 121 The hounds by this means are immediately rallied to the precise spot, and ready to go off in a body with their game, as a lucky find frequently follows an unexpected challenge.
1824 Sporting Mag. Mar. 336/1 Like all those which have not been regularly hunted, the find was uncertain, and we had the pleasure of another blank, though we drew several miles down the Wealds of Sussex.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 299 They realised the find of a fox.
1908 C. Richardson Compl. Foxhunter vi. 183 Exactly an hour and twenty minutes from the find he was killed on the outskirts of Crawley.
1993 Field & Stream Mar. 107/1 Keeping him separate from a friendly pack, and only bringing him in on the find.
b. gen. An act or instance of finding; a discovery, e.g. of minerals, treasure, archaeological remains, etc. Formerly colloquial.
ΚΠ
1821 J. Bell Stork in Lett. from Wetzlar 82 He soon detects—ah think—good lack!—A mark upon the culprit's back. The lucky find no sooner known, Than a commission is sent down.
1825 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 498 I only hope 'twill fit the man that finds it. And a good find he had; for it [a hat] was a new one.
1862 A. L. Lindsay Place & Power Nat. Hist. 12 ‘Good finds’ and ‘piles’ have been hitherto unknown.
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. 195 We need not despair of fresh finds.
1868 C. W. Dilke Greater Brit. II. iii. iii. 22 At the time of the first ‘find’ in 1851, all the resolute, able, physically strong do-noughts of Europe and America flocked into Port Phillip, as Victoria was then called.
1884 American 7 220 The Paris Figaro announces a ‘find’ of letters by Beaumarchais.
1904 B. C. A. Windle Remains Prehist. Age Eng. xi. 292 The finds of Gaulish coins of the Channel Islands, or of Armoric type in Devonshire and Hants, have already supplied interesting evidence.
1941 Amer. Boy Feb. 32/2 Meanwhile there has been a ‘find’ which is important in American philately.
2011 Bryologist 114 232/1 The recent find of Erioderma mollissimum on the island of Newfoundland underscores the lack of knowledge about the distribution of this species in Atlantic Canada.
3. concrete.
a. Something which is found; (Archaeology) an artefact recovered at a site. Also (Archaeology): a group of artefacts discovered together.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > a find or discovery
findingc1390
discovery1632
find1827
1827 P. E. Laurent tr. Herodotus Nine Bks. Hist. I. vii. 214 He..possessed himself of an unspeakable quantity of other things of gold; but though he became vastly rich by his finds, he was not in other respects happy.
1846 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Fins, finds; things found. North.
1858 T. McCombie Hist. Colony Victoria xv. 218 The great ‘finds’ of gold were..first discovered on the old Golden Point on Forest Creek.
1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times i. 11 Bronze weapons are entirely absent from the great ‘finds’ of the Iron age.
1930 D. T. Rice Byzantine Glazed Pottery 9 In dealing with the Constantinople finds,..six main groups were distinguished; plain glazed ware..[etc.].
1987 T. B. Barry Archaeology Medieval Ireland (1999) vi. 151 Many small finds were recovered, including some late-thirteenth-century coins and pieces of a green-glazed French barrel costrel.
1999 S. Whitehead et al. Dog Compl. Guide (2003) 37/1 A more dominant type of dog might be much more inclined to head off into the woods and eat the find itself.
2010 New Yorker 15 Mar. 56/3 Archeological finds in the peat bogs of Scandinavia and Central Asia indicate that the practice goes back thousands of years.
b. Originally U.S. A person who is brought to public notice or ‘discovered’; a valuable discovery. Chiefly in predicative use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > a find or discovery > a person
find1850
discovery1876
1850 Harper's New Monthly Mag. Aug. 371/2 He is quite a find in such a stupid neighborhood as ours.
1890 Sporting Life (Philadelphia) 8 Jan. 7/1 As to Secretary Rogers' two ‘finds’, Day and Anderson, little can be said in their favor.
1914 R. Grau Theatre of Sci. 139 Miss Snow..must be set down as a Thanhouser ‘find’.
1917 W. Owen Let. 14 Oct. (1967) 499 Graves was mightily impressed, and considers me a kind of Find!!
1926 J. Galsworthy Punch & Go in Six Short Plays 102 Miss Hellgrove's a find, I think.
1937 Life 1 Feb. 47 (caption) Love interest is furnished by Vivien Leigh, a Korda ‘find’, and Laurence Olivier.
2012 Church Times 14 Dec. 23/5 The baritone..was the real find of the evening. But all three soloists were top-drawer.
c. A meteorite which is discovered on the ground but whose descent from the sky was not observed. Contrasted with fall.
ΚΠ
1897 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 5 128 That the metallic meteorites are much more likely to be found than the stony, is indicated by the fact that of 263 meteorite ‘finds’ now preserved in collections, 205 are wholly metallic, 28 largely so and only 30 are stony.
1919 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 5 37 (title) The percentage number of meteorite falls and finds considered with reference to their varying basicity.
1948 Sci. Monthly Dec. 393/2 If the meteorite is not seen to fall, but is instead found in the countryside, it is called a find.
2007 Wired Jan. 152/1 He scouted the Oman desert by jeep and the Chicago suburbs by bicycle... Chasing falls or finds is tough, hand-to-mouth work.
4. At Harrow School: an arrangement whereby a group of boys have meals together. Cf. find v. 18d. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating in specific conditions > [noun] > eating in company > group eating together > in school
find1862
find1889
1862 C. Stretton Mem. Chequered Life I. i. 3 Should this meet the eye of any ‘old Harrovian’, will he not bear me out when I assert that the system of ‘Find’ bills of the period of which I write was the nucleus of ruin to many young men?
1880 Hugh Russell at Harrow xv. 109 Any member who persistently sings, shouts, whistles, talks bosh..shall be..excluded from the next meal on the ‘find’.
1881 M. J. Rendall in C. E. Pascoe Everyday Life in our Public Schools 210 In a large House there are usually four Sixth Form ‘finds’ (a Harrow term signifying a mess of three or four senior boys who take tea and breakfast in a room separate from the hall).
1899 Captain 1 471/1 A ‘find’ consists of a number of Sixth Form boys, who are privileged to have their breakfast and tea together in one of their own rooms.
2000 C. Tyerman Hist. Harrow School x. 211 In January 1830 Longley abolished Finds in the interests of reducing costs to parents.

Compounds

find-place n. chiefly Archaeology the place of finding of something; = find-spot n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > [noun] > where a thing is found
find-place1866
find-spot1867
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > place of finding
find-place1866
find-spot1867
1866–7 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. ii. 568 Considering the importance we have previously attacht to the find-place, we should have assented to the above conclusion.
1939 Burlington Mag. Oct. p. vi/1 A map showing find-places and centres of manufacture.
1962 Notes & Queries Dec. 450/2 Drake was unable to learn the exact find-place.
1971 E. Okasha Hand-list of Anglo-Saxon Non-Runic Inscr. 43 Find-place and date, where known, with brief details of the find.
1980 Antiquaries Jrnl. 60 378 In rather few cases is the findplace really known.
2010 Archaeol. Ireland 24 ii. 6/1 Fraser Hunter..has been studying the hoard and excavating the find-place since last September.
find-spot n. chiefly Archaeology the place where an artefact or group of artefacts was found.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > [noun] > where a thing is found
find-place1866
find-spot1867
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > place of finding
find-place1866
find-spot1867
1867 Numismatic Chron. 8 182 I have used the known find-spots of the coins as the chief guide to the localities over which the different princes reigned.
1876 J. Fergusson Hist. Indian & Eastern Archit. i. vii. 170 (note) He could only ascertain the ‘find spot’ of five or six [specimens].
1938 Oxoniensia 3 49 Mortarium. Hard white ware, colour-washed. Find-spot unrecorded. Early second century.
1960 K. M. Kenyon Archaeol. in Holy Land i. 33 The Samaria ostraca..provide limits for the reigns of the king to which they refer, but their find-spot was not accurately recorded with reference to the structural phases of the town.
2003 Isis 94 361/1 There are useful appendixes..not to mention maps of find-spots and listings of the fistulae cited.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

findv.

Brit. /fʌɪnd/, U.S. /faɪnd/
Inflections: Past tense and past participle found Brit. /faʊnd/, U.S. /faʊnd/;
Forms: 1. Present stem Old English findan, Old English fintst (2nd singular indicative), Old English fintt (3rd singular indicative, in prefixed forms), Old English fyndan, Old English–early Middle English finst (2nd singular indicative), Old English–Middle English fint (3rd singular indicative), early Middle English fidon (present subjunctive plural, transmission error), early Middle English findenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English finnt ( Ormulum, 3rd singular indicative), early Middle English funde (south-west midlands), early Middle English uint (southern, 3rd singular indicative), early Middle English vinst (south-eastern, 2nd singular indicative), early Middle English vint (southern, 3rd singular indicative), Middle English fend, Middle English ffynde, Middle English ffynt (3rd singular indicative), Middle English fin (northern), Middle English fiynde, Middle English fynnde, Middle English fynt (3rd singular indicative), Middle English uinde, Middle English uynde, Middle English vinde, Middle English vynde, Middle English–1600s finde, Middle English–1600s fynd, Middle English–1600s fynde, Middle English– find, 1500s fiend, 1600s feind, 1600s ffind, 1600s fyned, 1800s– fin' (regional and nonstandard), 1800s– fine (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1800s finnd, 1800s foind (Leicestershire), 1800s vin' (south-western), 1800s vind (south-western); Scottish pre-1700 feinde, pre-1700 finde, pre-1700 fyind, pre-1700 fynd, pre-1700 fynde, pre-1700 fyndyn, pre-1700 1700s– find, pre-1700 1800s– fin, 1700s– fin', 1900s– finn, 1900s– finnd, 1900s– fun, 1900s– fund, 1900s– funn; N.E.D. (1896) also records the forms early Middle English feind, Middle English fon, Middle English fond, late Middle English fyne. 2. Past tense. a. Strong. (i). Originally 1st and 3rd singular indicative.

α. Old English–1500s fond, Old English (rare)–1500s fonde, late Old English feand, early Middle English fant (2nd singular indicative, before t), Middle English faand (northern), Middle English fande, Middle English font, Middle English foond, Middle English foonde, Middle English uand (south-eastern), Middle English vond (south-western), Middle English wond (south-western, transmission error), late Middle English faund (northern), 1500s fovnde, Old English–1500s (1600s archaic) (1900s– Irish English (northern)) fand, 1900s– fan' (Irish English (northern)); English regional (chiefly northern) 1700s–1800s fand, 1800s faan, 1800s faand, 1800s fan, 1800s fan', 1800s fant, 1800s fawwnd, 1800s fon, 1800s fond; Scottish pre-1700 fande, pre-1700 fond, pre-1700 fonde, pre-1700 1700s– fand, 1700s– fan, 1800s fan', 1800s fann, 1800s– faun'; N.E.D. (1896) also records a form Middle English fon.

β. Old English (see note)–Middle English funde, early Middle English uunde (south-west midlands), early Middle English vunde (south-west midlands), Middle English ffounde, Middle English fune, Middle English–1600s founde, Middle English–1600s fownd, Middle English–1600s fownde, Middle English– found, 1500s ffownd, 1500s vound, 1600s foounde, 1800s fount (U.S. regional (southern)), 1800s fun' (Irish English (northern)), 1800s– foun' (regional and nonstandard), 1900s– foun (regional and nonstandard), 1900s– fun (Irish English (northern)); English regional 1800s foon, 1800s foond, 1800s voun' (south-western), 1800s– fun, 1800s– fund; Scottish pre-1700 founde, pre-1700 fownde, pre-1700 1700s– found, pre-1700 1800s faund, pre-1700 1800s– fund, 1800s– foun', 1900s– foond, 1900s– fun, 1900s– fun'; N.E.D. (1896) also records forms Middle English funn, late Middle English faunde.

(ii). Plural.

α. Old English fundan, Old English fundun (rare), Old English–early Middle English fundon, Old English (rare)–Middle English funden, early Middle English uunden, Middle English ffounde, Middle English found, Middle English founde, Middle English founden, Middle English foundene, Middle English foundyn, Middle English fownde, Middle English fownden, Middle English funde, Middle English vovnde (south-western), late Middle English faunde (north-east midlands and northern), 1500s ffownd, 1500s fownd; N.E.D. (1896) also records the forms Middle English fundyn, pre-1700 fundin (Scottish).

β. early Middle English vonde, Middle English faand, Middle English fand, Middle English fande, Middle English fanden, Middle English fant (northern), Middle English fon, Middle English fond, Middle English fonde, Middle English fonden, Middle English foonde, Middle English foonden.

b. Weak 1800s finded (U.S. regional), 1800s funded (English regional). 3. Past participle.

α. Old English fundon (rare), Old English fundyn (in prefixed forms (not ge-)), Old English–Middle English funden, late Old English fundæn, early Middle English fundan, Middle English faunde, Middle English ffounde, Middle English ffowndyn, Middle English fon, Middle English fondene, Middle English fondin, Middle English fondyn, Middle English fonn, Middle English fonte, Middle English foundene, Middle English foundun, Middle English foundyn, Middle English foundyne, Middle English fowndene, Middle English fowndin, Middle English fowndyn, Middle English fowne, Middle English funde, Middle English fundun, Middle English funn, Middle English fwnde, Middle English uounde, Middle English–1500s ffounden, Middle English–1500s fond, Middle English–1500s fonde, Middle English–1500s fonden, Middle English–1500s fownd, Middle English–1500s fownden, Middle English–1600s founde, Middle English–1600s founden, Middle English–1600s fownde, Middle English (1900s– Irish English (northern)) fun, Middle English– found, 1500s ffonde, 1600s foound, 1800s– foun (regional and nonstandard), 1800s– foun' (regional and nonstandard); English regional 1800s fon, 1800s fond, 1800s foond, 1800s fun', 1800s funden, 1800s– fun, 1800s– fund, 1900s– foon, 1900s– fun'd; Scottish pre-1700 fond, pre-1700 fondin, pre-1700 founde, pre-1700 founden, pre-1700 foundin, pre-1700 founding, pre-1700 foundyn, pre-1700 fownd, pre-1700 fowndyn, pre-1700 funde, pre-1700 fundin, pre-1700 fundine, pre-1700 funding, pre-1700 fundun, pre-1700 fundyn, pre-1700 fundyne, pre-1700 fundyng, pre-1700 fune, pre-1700 fvnd, pre-1700 fwn, pre-1700 fwnd, pre-1700 fwnde, pre-1700 fwndyn, pre-1700 1700s– found, pre-1700 1700s– fun, pre-1700 1800s funden, pre-1700 1800s– fund, pre-1700 1900s– foun, 1800s faund, 1800s– foun', 1800s– fun', 1900s füne (Shetland), 1900s– foon, 1900s– funn.

β. Old English gefunden, late Old English gefundon, early Middle English ȝefunde, early Middle English yfudonne (plural), Middle English ifonden, Middle English ifounde, Middle English ifownde, Middle English ifund, Middle English ifunde, Middle English ifunden, Middle English yffounde, Middle English yfonde, Middle English yfounden, Middle English yfunden, Middle English yuonde, Middle English yuounde, Middle English yvounde, Middle English (1500s archaic) yfounde, 1500s 1800s yfound (archaic).

γ. 1500s fande, 1700s fawnd (English regional), 1800s fand (English regional (northern)); Scottish pre-1700 1800s– fand, 1800s fan, 1800s fann; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– fan', 1900s– fand.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian finda to find, judge, deem (East Frisian finden , finnen , West Frisian fine ), Old Dutch findan (Middle Dutch vinden , venden , vijnden , vinnen , Dutch vinden ), Old Saxon fīðan , findan (Middle Low German vinden ), Old High German findan (Middle High German vinden , German finden ), Old Icelandic finna (Icelandic finna ), Norwegian finne , Old Swedish finna (Swedish finna ), Old Danish finde (Danish finde ), Gothic finþan to learn, recognize < a Germanic base probably seen also (with different ablaut grade) in Old English fēða person who goes on foot, foot soldier, Old High German fendo , in the same senses (Middle High German vende ), and also (with different ablaut grades and suffixation) in found v.1 and fand v., probably < the same Indo-European base as (with various ablaut grades) Sanskrit panthā way, path, course (compare pons n.), Avestan pantā way (compare path n.1), ancient Greek πόντος sea (compare Pontic adj.1), πάτος path, classical Latin pont- , pōns bridge (compare pons n.), Old Church Slavonic pǫtĭ road, way, journey, Old Prussian pintis way, road, and perhaps also Early Irish áit place. Compare yfind v.Semantic development. The derivation of the Germanic verb outlined above assumes development of the sense ‘to come across, meet with, find’ from a core meaning ‘to go, travel’, although it has been objected that evidence for a primary verb in this basic sense appears to be lacking in the Indo-European languages. It has alternatively been suggested that the word may have developed from a form with nasal infix of the base of classical Latin petere to make for, search, seek, demand (see repeat v.), although evidence for such a form is also lacking. For further discussion see A. L. Lloyd & R. Lühr Etymol. Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen (2007) III. 251–5. In a number of senses, arising from or reinforced by corresponding uses of Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French trouver (French trouver to find); with sense 5a(a) compare use in this sense of Middle French trouver (2nd half of the 13th cent in Old French). Form history. In Old English, as in the other older Germanic languages, a strong verb of Class III. The inherited inflectional pattern, after the operation of Verner's Law, yielded alternation in the stem-final dental consonant. Like other northern West Germanic languages, English has levelled the voiced alternant (Old English d ) to all stem forms in this verb, whereas the Old Saxon infinitive form fīðan (beside findan ) reflects regular loss of nasal and compensatory lengthening of the vowel before unvoiced þ . Gothic finþan shows levelling of the unvoiced alternant to all stem forms. Beside the regular Old English strong past tense 1st and 3rd singular indicative fand (also, with rounding before nasal, fond ), West Saxon shows a form funde with the stem form of the plural and the weak past tense ending -e (compare also 2nd singular indicative fundest ). In the Middle English period the stem form of the past tense plural was levelled to the rest of the past tense in other varieties as well (see Forms 2a(i)β. ), yielding the standard English past tense found . Conversely, in Scots, Irish English, and northern regional English, reflexes of the inherited past tense singular stem were levelled to the whole past tense, as fand , fond , etc. (see Forms 2a(i)α. ). In all forms of the stem, the inherited short vowel was liable to be lengthened before the homorganic consonant cluster nd in the transition to Middle English. The standard English present stem find (Brit. /fʌɪnd/, U.S. /faɪnd/) and past tense and past participle found ( Brit. /faʊnd/, U.S. /faʊnd/) show the reflexes of such lengthened vowels. Reflexes of short vowels survive in modern English in northern varieties; compare English regional and Scots past participle forms funden, fund, etc. at Forms 3. Compare the similar developments at bind v. and see discussion at that entry. The Middle English forms fond , fonden , etc. are ambiguous, since they could show graphic representation of u as o to avoid minim confusion. Prefixed forms. In Old English the prefixed form gefindan yfind v. is also attested; compare also afindan afind v., (Northumbrian) infinda to find, to discover (compare in- prefix1), oferfindan to put to the proof, to test (compare over- prefix), onfindan to find out, learn, to perceive, feel, to notice, observe, to discover, to experience, suffer (compare on- prefix).
I. To come upon by chance or in the course of events.
1.
a. To become aware of, come into contact with, or get possession of, in the course of some activity; to come across, meet with, light upon, discover.
(a) transitive. With simple object. Also intransitive with object understood or implied.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [verb (transitive)] > encounter or experience
ymetec893
findeOE
meetOE
counterc1325
overtakec1390
limp?a1400
tidea1400
runa1450
to fall with ——?c1475
onlightc1475
recounterc1485
recount1490
to come in witha1500
occur1531
to fall on ——1533
to fall upon ——1533
beshine1574
rencontre1582
entertain1591
cope with1594
happen1594
tocome1596
incur1599
forgather1600
thwart1601
to fall in1675
cross1684
to come across ——1738
to cross upon (or on)1748
to fall across ——1760
experience1786
to drop in1802
encounter1814
to come upon ——1820
to run against ——1821
to come in contact with1862
to run across ——1864
to knock or run up against1886
to knock up against1887
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)]
deemc950
findeOE
adjudge?c1400
judge1477
retour1497
conclude1523
sentence1586
deraign1601
discern1622
cognosce1634
censure1640
hold1642
adjudicatea1695
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (intransitive)] > by chance
findeOE
to happen on1529
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > find or discover by chance
find1340
to fall with ——?c1475
to fall on ——1533
stumble1555
to come on ——1584
to come upon ——1622
fortune1662
to blunder upon1710
to come across ——1738
eOE Metres of Boethius (2009) xiii. 34 Nele hio [sc. the lion] forlætan libbendes wuht.., nimð eall þæt hio fint.
OE Beowulf (2008) 2136 Ic ða ðæs wælmes..grundhyrde fond.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 219 Foure þinges..man find ilome on gerde þat he be riht and smal and long and smeþe.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 3726 He wende sone to þe lond of yrlonde & wan it al clene to him & al þat he vonde[a1400 Trin. Cambr. fond, c1425 Harl. wond].
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 38 Yef þe vinst and naȝt ne yelst: þou hit stelst.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1183 Quen adam abel bodi fand For soru on fote moght he noght stand.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxiv. 526 Men shold fynde in the worlde but fewe suche knyghtes as he is one.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) viii. ii. (heading) The sow with grysis..Eneas fand.
1580 A. Munday Zelauto sig. H2v In the meane whyle, take as you finde.
c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 631 Whoso for-gabbed [MS forgalbed] a frere y-founden at þe stues.
1611 Bible (King James) John xxi. 6 Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and yee shall find . View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall xxxv. 271 The Spring of the external Air, which impels the Water it findes in its way.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy Pref. sig. A4 Many new Subjects that a Traveller may find to employ himself upon.
1793 C. R. Hopson tr. C. P. Thunberg Trav. I. 312 The Loxia Astrild..was found in great numbers in the farmers gardens.
1883 Cent. Mag. 26 911/2 They might find traces of European sojourn on the island.
1907 Catholic Encycl. I. 707/1 His body was found in Lake Maggiore in a perfect state of preservation.
1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 11/2 Jug-and-bottle bar, specially reserved for the purchase of drinks for consumption off the premises; only to be found in older pubs.
2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures I. 27/2 In 1975, a group of bushwalkers found large tracks and tail marks at the edge of the Wallangambe Wilderness.
(b) transitive. With object and complement (adjective, participle, or adverbial phrase). Formerly also †with object and infinitive.
ΚΠ
OE Cynewulf Juliana 364 Ic hine finde ferð staþelian to godes willan.
OE Guthlac B 1007 Fonde þa his mondryhten adlwerigne.
c1175 ( Homily in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 56 Þyȝ læs ðe eow slæpende finde, þenne he cymæð.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8352 He comm till himm o nahht & fand himm þanne o slæpe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12898 Þa fond he þer ane quene quecchen mid hafde.
a1300 Passion our Lord 325 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 46 Þesne mon we funde vorbeoden vre lawe.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 337 Al þat were bihinde yfounde Anon þai were leyd to grounde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 6827 Þin enemyes beest þou fyndes o stray.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1798 Rytht as a wolf that fynt a lomb a lone.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin i. 4 He was founden dede.
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. iv. f. 34 They..came into his gardein..and found him weding of his ground.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour iv. sig. P.iiv Geue thare sall ony man or wyue That day be funding vpon lyue.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. viii. sig. Kk8v I found her golden girdle cast astray, Distaynd with durt and blood.
1615 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Cupids Revenge iv. i. sig. I4 As you finde him setled, remember my loue and seruice to his Grace.
1670 Lady M. Bertie Let. in Hist. MSS Comm.: 12th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Duke of Rutland (1889) 21 in Parl. Papers (C. 5889–II) XLIV. 393 I..could not find her at hom.
1708 S. Molyneux in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 26 39 A large Girdle about 20 Pounds Weight..was found lying on the Floor.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. i. 27 Madame La Motte..found her sunk in a disturbed slumber.
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxvii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 91 He has..been fun' lyin' in the middle o' the road.
1895 T. Hardy in Harper's New Monthly Mag. Mar. 580/2 When they awoke the next morning they glanced into Sue's nook, to find it still without a tenant.
1915 Policeman's Monthly Dec. 17/3 One day, his pal found him depressed and told him to take a little sniff of ‘snow’, as heroin is known to the vernacular of the criminal.
2013 M. Zailckas Mother, Mother (2014) 90 I found her crying in the walk-in refrigerator one day.
b. transitive. In passive. To be identified as present; to exist; to occur; to be located at a specific site.
ΚΠ
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) iii. 244 Ban bið funden [L. inveniuntur] on heortes heortan, hwilum on hrife.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) i. xii. 90 Ac hwæt cweþaþ we, þæt þyllice weras [ne] magon on þysum dagum beon fundene?
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 33 Wyrc þanne clydan of eorþan..þa byþ fundan on Ytalia.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 10 (MED) Contrarious qualitees þat ben founden in elementis.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 165v (MED) Placez in which apotecariez be not founden [L. non reperiuntur].
1543 B. Traheron Interpr. Straunge Wordes in tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. sig. §§.iiiv/1 Musa sayeth that vitriolum romanum is that, that Dioscorides calleth Misy. Whyche is found in mynes, & hath the colour of golde.
1684 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 14 539 Polypous concretions also were found in the larger veins of the Arms, Legs and other parts.
1775 S. Ward Mod. Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 104 The bison is found in all the southern parts of the world.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 17/1 In our own country the Golden Oriole has been found in Hampshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, near Manchester, near Lancaster.
1885 Cent. Mag. May 44/1 Imagination, humor, and dramatic force are found in the ballad of the Marblehead skipper's dole, and its movement is admirable.
1943 Jrnl. Ecol. 31 213 Prehistoric monoxylous boats have been found in the clay of the Arun Gap.
2007 D. L. Manjunath Environmental Stud. (2009) iv. 31 Pathogenic micro-organisms..are found in large numbers in domestic sewage and waste-waters from animal processing plants.
c. transitive. To come across in written accounts. Frequently with object and complement. †Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > reading > [verb (transitive)] > find or learn by reading
readOE
findOE
seea1325
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 442 Ne we ne fundon on bocum hu se bisceop leofode on þysre worulde.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) iv. 17 Sona swa he þa boc unfeold þa funde he þar awriten: drihtnes gast is ofer me.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 35 Oðer he heo wat ðurh þet he heo dude him seolf oðer he heo hafð i-escad oðer hafð ifunden on boke.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 47 We uindeð in halie boc þet ieremie þe prophete stod..in þe uenne up to his muðe.
a1300 Passion our Lord l. 2 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 37 (MED) We vyndeþ hit iwrite in þe godspelle.
a1350 St. Juliana (Ashm.) (1957) 81 Seyn Julian com of heie men, as we fyndeþ iwrite.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 335 (MED) No kyng Frollo is i-founde amonge þe Frensche men.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 356 Þis elementz þat al thinges bindes Four er þai, als clerkes findes.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 7176 Als in som boke wryten es fonden.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 193 Ffro the towne of Thessaile..Eght furlong I fynd.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. xv. f. 431 In the Greke exemplars are found in this 15. booke only 5. propositions.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. 282 We find not that there was any..commission sitten upon about their death.
1678 W. Sancroft Serm. House Peers 3 There we find the holy Man in a great streit of Affliction.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 173. ¶3 I have look'd over all the Olympick Games, and do not find any thing in them like an Ass Race.
1798 Crit. Rev. Apr. 381 Wherever we open the volume, we find something to amuse the mind.
1828 C. Caldwell Disc. on Genius & Char. of H. Holley 129 In the winter succeeding his graduation, we find him in the office of Messrs Riggs and Radcliff, New York, as a student at law.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 406 In 1276, we find the Emperor and the King of England in constant communication.
1903 B. Pick Extra-canonical Life Christ 6 Our aim is to present the life, work and sayings of Jesus as we find them in works which the church never recognized as her own.
1911 Mod. Lang. Notes 26 197/1 I find him mentioned in this connection as early as 1589 in Lyly's Martinist pamphlet ‘Pappe with an hatchet’.
2004 Atlantic Monthly May 123/1 One finds no mention of Tarkington in..the diaries and letters of his fellow Princetonian Edmund Wilson.
d. transitive. To come upon, begin acquaintance with or operation upon (an object that is in a specified condition). Often contrasted with leave.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > meeting or encounter > meet or encounter [verb (transitive)]
meeteOE
yaina1000
yseeOE
oftakelOE
to meet withc1300
finda1325
encounter1520
occur1527
bemeet1608
to fall in1675
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1280 Richere he it [sc. the land] leet ðan he it fond.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 297 (MED) I fonde [L. reperi] a citee of brend tyle, and now I leve a citee of marbil.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 297 (MED) Y leve the cite edifiede and made stronge with marbole, whom y founde diȝhte with tile stones.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. viii. 77 In the state that thou it fand, Then shal it turne.
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. sig. A.vii I trust I shalbe borne with all thoughe I do not here take vpon me to discus, but leaue it for a doubt among theim as I found it.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 54 He found that Colledge spending scarse two hundred markes by yeare: he left it spending a thousand markes and more.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 179 Affliction never leaves us as it findes us.
1695 Rector's Bk. Clayworth (1910) 113 We look'd in to ye wheat..& upon winnowing in order to sale, found it in good condition.
1740 P. Delany Hist. Acct. Life & Reign David (ed. 2) I. xix. 232 When they reached the camp, they found it in a deep quiet; sleep and silence reigned throughout.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 386 The morning finds the self-sequester'd man Fresh for his task.
1827 Examiner 5 Aug. 481/1 They can only administer the law as they find the law.
1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys 135 A lung-attack, at any time of life—certainly when the threescore years and ten are passed—can hardly leave a man exactly where it found him.
1884 W. E. Gladstone in Standard 29 Feb. 2/6 That is the state of things we found established.
1944 F. Clune Red Heart 64 The year 1862 found him working as a boundary rider on Cullin-la-Ringo Station.
1987 A. Djoleto Hurricane of Dust xii. 54 He was to me a man who had made the best of life as he found it, careful not to offend or break the law.
1993 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Sept. a10/1 The dawning of a new year found many Israelis unsure about the prospects for peace promised in the recently signed accord.
2013 Southland (N.Z.) Times 27 Oct. 8 Is it really that hard to follow the country code and leave things as you find them?
2.
a. transitive. To discover the whereabouts of (something or someone hidden or not previously observed), sometimes with the implication of picking up or carrying off. Cf. sense 9a.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf (2008) 7 Oft Scyld Scefing..monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah..syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden. He þæs frofre gebad.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 963 Se biscop..fand þa hidde in þa ealde wealle writes þet Headda abbot heafde ær gewriton.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 161 (MED) Þat holie maiden..was fet of weste wunienge þar he funden was.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3246 Salomon findin is sal, And his temple sriðen wið-al.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1831 Bi frut to liue, þat we finde in wodes.
?a1440 J. Gyn in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 21 I fonde a purs with money þer-jnne.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 6824 (MED) Hardknout kyng had a sonn Þat with a wydow suld be fonn.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. (1587) ii. 297 Ye multitude had found burnt in the church a great number of idols.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 171 Looke heere what I found on a Palme tree. View more context for this quotation
1656 A. Cowley Misc. 35 in Poems A curse on him who found the Oare!
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 55 They..threw every Thing about in such a manner, that the poor Men..found some of their Things a Mile off.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 23 He..had found a pan of money under ground.
1883 J. Hay Bread-winners vi. 90 The money..was found..in the blue jeans trousers of his son Andrew Jackson.
1889 Geol. Mag. Feb. 62 We must naturally expect to find the deepest strata in the ‘fan structure’.
1892 Printers' Ink 30 Mar. 432/1 A provincial draper found a sixpence on the floor of his shop.
1901 M. C. Dickerson Moths & Butterflies i. 8 Looking more closely, we find a pair of antennæ, or feelers, attached to the anterior part of the head.
1911 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 41 267 General Thurston..found some curious mushroom-shaped articles, of burnt clay.
2014 True Crime Monthly Apr. 48/1 The police..found a disturbing collection of items—several pairs of women's shoes, a sex doll, some toy dolls, pine deodorant [etc.].
b. transitive. slang (euphemistic). To steal.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)]
pick?c1300
takec1300
fetch1377
bribec1405
usurpc1412
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
embezzle1495
lifta1529
pilfer1532
suffurate1542
convey?1545
mill1567
prig1567
strike1567
lag1573
shave1585
knave1601
twitch1607
cly1610
asport1621
pinch1632
snapa1639
nap1665
panyar1681
to carry off1684
to pick up1687
thievea1695
to gipsy away1696
bone1699
make1699
win1699
magg1762
snatch1766
to make off with1768
snavel1795
feck1809
shake1811
nail1819
geach1821
pull1821
to run off1821
smug1825
nick1826
abduct1831
swag1846
nobble1855
reef1859
snig1862
find1865
to pull off1865
cop1879
jump1879
slock1888
swipe1889
snag1895
rip1904
snitch1904
pole1906
glom1907
boost1912
hot-stuff1914
score1914
clifty1918
to knock off1919
snoop1924
heist1930
hoist1931
rabbit1943
to rip off1967
to have off1974
1865 T. Archer Pauper, Thief & Convict ii. 22 Too little moral restraint to go back to their miserable lodging with an empty stomach if they can ‘find’ anything that will procure them a meal.
1884 J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffins xvi. 139 Pinchin', findin', gleanin', some coves calls it.
1936 Punch 2 Dec. 640/1 Certain portions have been ‘found’ in the literal Army sense of the word, which is a polite way of describing petty theft.
1945 G. Millar Maquis viii. 155 He left in a rush and flurry on a brand-new woman's bicycle that he had ‘found’ in Besançon.
2008 Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (Nexis) 20 Mar. d4 My 6-year-old son, who has just recently come to understand the value of liquid assets, has taken up the habit of ‘finding’ money around the house.
3. transitive. To meet with, come to have or experience, obtain, receive, get (chiefly, something desirable or needful). In quot. c1400 with infinitive as object.In quot. 16112 intransitive with prepositional phrase as complement. to find favour: see favour n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (intransitive)]
findOE
covera1375
to come therebyc1386
obtain1477
get?1505
draw1755
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > as something desired or advantageous
findOE
winc1000
betellc1275
getc1330
reapa1350
craftc1350
attainc1374
achievea1393
embrace?c1475
conquer1477
consecute1536
gain1570
lucrify1570
compass1609
raise1611
lucrate1623
reconcile1665
engage1725
to pull off1860
OE Genesis A (1931) 1456 Nohweðere reste fand, þæt heo for flode fotum ne meahte land gespornan.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 69 Swuch swettnesse þu schalt ifinden in his luue.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3795 Nennius..ne mihte finden bote of his hæfued-wunde.
a1350 in K. Böddeker Altengl. Dichtungen (1878) 203 (MED) No mon mai so sunful be..þat ne fynd socour at þe.
1372 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 89 (MED) No frenchipe fond i in þe wan þat i hadde nede.
c1400 ( Canticum Creatione l. 851 in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 134 Þat y may fynden glad to be In al my lyf tyme ones!
a1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Tanner 346) (1878) l. 106 Her fredom fonde Arcite.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 294 The worthie harberie that I haue fundin heir.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 380 b What heresy [was ever] so absurde, that found not creditte..somewhere?
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 169 Findeng occasioune to win honour..blythlie he apprehendes it.
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. to Rdr. sig. A3v But yet [it] findeth but cold intertainment in the world.
1611 Bible (King James) Job xxxiv. 11 He [shall]..cause euery man to finde according to his wayes. View more context for this quotation
1642 Supplication Maior of Hull 5 Other fawning Spaniels and factious Traitors, finde Peace and Safety under your wings.
1658 H. W. tr. E. de Refuge Accomplish'd Courtier iv. 8 You may conceive, that a bold Accuser & Delator, and one who careth not much for the envy of great ones,..shall find acceptance with him.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (new ed.) II. 369 Upon a petition preferred to the lord in his court baron the party grieved shall find remedy.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 557 No works shall find acceptance in that day.
1853 F. W. Newman tr. Horace Odes Pref. 5 I..despair of finding readers among those who seek solely for amusement.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Misc. Writings (1860) II. 377 The Christian Hero finds a Pagan tomb.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 414 Such commodities..found little market.
1905 M. Hume Span. Infl. on Eng. Lit. vii. 196 Medina's book found a translator also in Frampton.
1949 A. Koestler Promise & Fulfilm. iii. i. 302 Millions of war-worn, strife-weary people longing to find peace.
2012 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Mar. c8/3 She has given up on ever finding love.
4.
a. To discover or perceive on inspection or consideration; to perceive or recognize the presence of. Also: to consider (a quality, circumstance) to be present.
(a) transitive. With simple object. To discover or perceive (something) on inspection or consideration.to find fault: see fault n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > perceive [verb (transitive)]
acknowOE
keepc1000
feelOE
findOE
seeOE
yknowc1275
apperceivec1300
descrivec1300
knowc1300
perceivec1330
taste1340
tellc1390
catcha1398
scenta1398
devisea1400
kena1400
concernc1425
descrya1450
henta1450
apprehend1577
scerne1590
to take in1637
discreevec1650
recognize1795
absorb1840
embrace1852
cognizea1856
cognosce1874
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > find out by investigation [verb (transitive)] > by inspection or consideration
findOE
ponder1539
OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) iii. §1. 157 Pilatus..cwæð to þam folce: ‘Ic hæbbe nu me sylfne to gewytan þæt ic ne myhte nanne gylt on þysum men fyndan’.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 41 Þa tealde þe godspellere Lucas..alle þa fæderæs æfre.., and he funde þa seofen and hundseofentiȝ fæderæs.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12853 Noht he þer ne funde bute a muchel fur þer berninde.
a1300 Passion our Lord l. 369 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 47 (MED) Ine vynde nenne gult in þisse monne.
a1300 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 3 (MED) Turn mi bodi abuten, oueral þu findest blod.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xxiii. 4 I fynde [L. invenio] no thing of cause to this man.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 25 Euermare in þe middes of þam es funden þe figure of þe crosse.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. ejv Ther in fyndyn wee suche dyuersite.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Sviv In my body & flesshe I fynde no good, ne forwardnes to perfection.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) Prol. A iv b Malitious folke, that love to finde faults in other mennes matters.
1621 G. Wither Motto (new ed.) sig. B3 Some other worth I finde, e're I have sense Of any praise-deserving excellence.
1685 J. Flamsteed Let. 27 Jan. in I. Newton Corr. (1960) II. 414 I have not failed to examine Hugens but can not find any thing for your satisfaction in him.
1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. §30 I find no sense or reason in what you say.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 138 We find evidence that considerable spaces were redeemed from the original ocean and converted into dry land after the chalk was formed.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 354 Nor did the world find anything ludicrous in the pomp which..surrounded him.
1929 E. Hemingway Farewell to Arms i. xii. 87 I found I was quite drunk, but went to sleep.
1957 Time (Atlantic ed.) 20 May 13/2 Ike seems to find something distasteful in precinct-level party politics.
1991 D. Johnson Resuscitation Hanged Man 147 He walked in small circles around the office.., failing to find significance or purpose in two dotted maps and a ragged list of names taped to the wall.
2008 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 18 Dec. 40/2 Sontag was not one to find anything funny..about her ringing pronouncements.
(b) transitive. With object and complement or infinitive. To discover or perceive (something) to be in a specified state or condition.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf (2008) 2270 Hordwynne fond eald uhtsceaða opene standan.
OE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Kings (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1881) I. 388 Þa afedde seo wudewe þone Godes witegan mid ðam lytlan melewe.., and funde ða fatu æfre fulle eft.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 87 And cumeð þerto and fint hit [sc. the house] emti.
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 688 (MED) He turnez þe cradel and fint þe child quik, Hol, and sond.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 522 Or we departye henne al hool þou schalt me vynde.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 871 On alle her forhedeȝ wryten I fande, Þe Lombeȝ nome.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail l. l. 296 (MED) Al Open the gate þere fownden he.
1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. Bv Which also by proof here in England, in making a piece of silke Grogran, we found to be excellent good.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 82 I finde no better word to say after a good praier, then Amen.
1602 J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 5 We found it to be foure English miles in compasse.
1636 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (new ed.) 1256 For he esteemde his foes defaite, When once he found them folde.
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) I. 34 When we fand our purses toom.
1791 D. Bradley Jrnl. 12 Oct. (1935) 22 Struck a large prairia in our course—found it impassable.
1805 London Gaz. Extraord. No. 27 Apr. We found the enemy very strongly encamped.
1879 ‘G. Eliot’ College Breakfast Party in Macmillan's Mag. July 167 I..find no scheme Content them both.
1884 Manch. Examiner 11 Oct. 4/3 We do not find any disposition to re-start looms.
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 101 Good-evenin', miss..I 'ope I finds yer well?
2002 Independent 12 June 18/4 Private dealers..have found the work very hard to sell.
b. transitive (reflexive). To perceive oneself to be in a specified place or position, or condition of body or mind. Also in weakened sense: to come to be (in the course of events).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > self-consciousness > have conscious perception [verb (reflexive)]
findc1405
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > come to be in a state or condition [verb (reflexive)]
find1633
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 57 Who so fyndeth hym out of swich blame.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) ii. 14 Blanchardyn fonde hym self in aduyses wyth his mayster, walkynge wythin the paleys.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) xciv. 77 Ffollowe the right suche one shall alwaye fynde Hym self in peace and plentie to habounde.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. A3 Brother Cosroe, I find myself agreeu'd.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne xv. lii. 277 On the mountaines top themselues they fand.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts ii. 212 Doe not ye finde your selves perplexed herein.
1700 R. Pearson Naaman Vindicated 87 Thou wilt..when thou awakest, find thy self sur-rounded with Devils and everlasting burnings.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. ii. 52 She found herself wholly dependent upon strangers.
1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris iv. 55 He was quite sure of finding himself comfortable.
1823 F. Clissold Narr. Ascent Mont Blanc 21 We found ourselves opposed by a parapet of congealed snow.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xii. 189 Lavender found himself..entering a drawing-room.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 5 Nov. 11/1 The County Council has found itself unable to frame a Tube Bill.
1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 9 Myatt found himself alone.
2008 Review (Rio Tinto) Mar. (Profile Suppl.) 19/2 Rio Tinto Alcan finds itself in a leading position to hasten the introduction of new ‘clean coal’ generation technologies.
5.
a.
(a) transitive. To discover, come to the knowledge of (a fact or state of things) by experience or trial. With object and infinitive, object and complement, or clause as object. Formerly also †with simple object (obsolete rare).to be found wanting: see wanting adj. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > appraise, estimate [verb (transitive)] > view in a certain way
findOE
telllOE
to take for ——a1393
receivec1400
notec1440
reputec1475
esteem1532
read1591
estimate1609
relish1617
set1648
resent1649
view1715
contemplate1785
OE Guthlac A 348 Symle hy Guðlac in Godes willan fromne fundon, þonne flygereowe..neosan cwoman..hwæþre him þæs wonges wyn sweðrade.
OE Blickling Homilies 223 Ne hine nænig man yrne ne grammodne ne funde, ac he wæs a on anum mode.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 45 Acc þu shallt findenn þatt min word..Maȝȝ hellpenn þa þatt redenn itt.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4538 He seide heom seolkuð i-noh, & al heo hit funden soð.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 31 (MED) Ðe fend in fyht vs fynt so feynt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 25180 Bot þat es man-hed mast o mede, Be funden treu in ilk nede.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 20 He has fun þam worþi to haue hym-self.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxx. 240 Ye shall fynde the mater other wyse then Gerarde his brother hath sayd.
?1571 G. Buchanan Chamaeleon in Vernacular Writings (1892) 49 He fand to be trew in deid all yat he suspectit afoir.
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis 24 sig. Dv I fynd it not ouer easy to clyme the Egles nest.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 8 Cadmus not finding their returne, went likewise to the same Fountaine.
1611 Bible (King James) Dan. v. 27 Thou are weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. View more context for this quotation
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 227 But behold an accident, which I rather thought at the first to haue bene a vision, then (as I found it) reall.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §22 We finde that Violets..yeeld a pleasing Sent.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 327 The best sorts [of apples] for Cyder are found to be the Redstreak, the White Must, the Green Must [etc.].
1722 D. Baker Let. 13 Dec. in Early Hist. Don Navigation (1965) 94 You will find the country so far from being satisfyed that I hardly know one that is not in our measures.
1792 Causes Failure Exped. against Indians, 1791 in Amer. State Papers: Mil. Affairs (1832) I. 37 Two complete traveling forges were sent forward, and, upon examination, both of them were found to be without an anvil.
1831 J. Keble Serm. (1848) v. 120 When his severe trials came..he was found wanting in some qualities.
1886 Manch. Examiner 27 Feb. 5/2 Deer forests have been found to pay better than sheep grazing.
1908 R. H. Loughridge Distribution Water in Soil (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 15 Sometimes the grit layer at depths of 8 or more feet was found to be very moist to an extent beyond natural field capacity.
1996 M8 Dec. 10/4 One thing that I found lacking at the Ingliston event..was a local guy, just someone to hit the spot for an hour and hold it together.
2007 Paintball Games Internat. July 14/1 A bottle at the fill station..was found to be leaking.
(b) transitive. In a more subjective sense: to feel to be (agreeable, disagreeable, etc.), to consider or regard as (ridiculous, excellent, etc.).
ΚΠ
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1535) xlviii. f. 111 In tastinge I founde it bytter, in fyndyng it bytter, I hated it.
1577 N. Breton Wks. Young Wyt 17 I find it showes a prety iest, when children cry, be it or Gyrle or boy.
1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. vi. 19 Where like as did his minde presage, he found it very so.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 254 Yet he found it disagreeable, because the Nights now were as intensely Cold, as the Days were Hot.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 6. ⁋2 He finds Rest more agreeable than Motion.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 83 How do you find the French?
1837 Q. Rev. July 267 Mr. Smith..finds it very convenient to confound these two very distinct subjects.
1863 W. E. Gladstone in J. Morley Life Gladstone (1903) II. v. vi. 97 Walked 24¾ miles. Found it rather too much for my stiffening limbs.
1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 842 We find it a little amusing that he..should so summarily avenge himself upon the little gnat of a writer who has punctured his own cuticle.
1925 S. Lewis Arrowsmith xxxiv. 385 I suppose he's simply infested with virtues, but I find him so dry and thin and unappetizing.
1984 B. Reid So Much Love viii. 128 I didn't enjoy that so much, because I found it rather muddly.
2012 Guardian 14 Jan. (Travel section) 11/5 First-time surf kayakers tend to find it a little bit scary.
b. transitive. With anticipatory it, adjective complement, and infinitive, as to find it impossible to do something, to find it necessary to do something, etc. Formerly also †without it, as to find fit to do something (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1545 J. Bale Mysterye Inyquyte P. Pantolabus f. 30v Yet are they not founde fytt to occupye a rome in this noble Genealogye.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 427 And when they gaged the forde, they found it vnpossible to wade through.
1629 tr. S. Pelegromius Descr. S'hertogenbosh 5 They found fit to build there the fourth chiefe Towne.
1684 London Gaz. No. 1953/1 Though the Lower Town has no other defence than a single Wall, yet his Highness found it convenient to make formal approaches to it.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. x. 43 When they found it fit to make any lusty Declaration against the Parliament.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 16/2 Whatever contingent expenses you may find it necessary to disburse in Calcutta.
1805 J. M. Good in tr. Lucretius Nature of Things I. Pref. p. xiv All the passages from foreign writers, whose works I have found it necessary to quote.
a1878 B. Taylor Stud. German Lit. (1879) 11 Hildebrand finds it impossible to decline the defiance.
1904 W. B. Yeats Let. 18 Jan. (1994) III. 521 No—I cannot do those changes in Paul..I find it hard enough to write a mere letter.
1910 Times 29 July 5/6 In non-essentials Brahmanism soon found it expedient to relax the rigour of caste obligations.
1952 Oxf. Mail 2 July 2/5 He found it necessary to invent the word ‘ergonomics’ to cover the kind of work he and other people are doing.
2012 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 26 June 4 Because of the fault she found it difficult to cancel her banker's cards.
6.
†a. transitive. To suffer, undergo (punishment, pain, hurt, etc.). Obsolete (chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern) in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)]
thave835
i-dreeeOE
tholec897
abeareOE
underbearc950
adreeOE
dreeOE
driveOE
i-tholeOE
throwOE
underfoc1000
bearOE
bidec1200
suffera1250
abidec1275
drinka1340
endure1340
underfong1382
receivec1384
abyea1393
sustain1398
finda1400
undergoa1400
get?c1430
underganga1470
ponder?a1525
a dog's lifea1528
tolerate1531
to stand to ——1540
to feel the weight of?1553
enjoy1577
carry1583
abrook1594
to stand under ——a1616
to fall a victim to1764
the mind > emotion > suffering > suffer mental pain [verb (transitive)]
thave835
i-dreeeOE
tholec897
underbearc950
adreeOE
dreeOE
driveOE
i-tholeOE
throwOE
underfoc1000
bearOE
takec1175
bidec1200
suffera1250
leadc1330
drinka1340
endure1340
wielda1375
underfong1382
receivec1384
sustain1398
finda1400
undergoa1400
underganga1470
ponder?a1525
tolerate1531
to go through ——1535
to feel the weight of?1553
enjoy1577
carry1583
abrook1594
OE Daniel 655 Swa ær Daniel cwæð, þæt se folctoga findan sceolde earfoðsiðas for his ofermedlan.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 382 Ðis deuel..Wo so him foleȝeð, he findeð sonde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 6296 Oft þai fand his wrake.
?a1425 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Lamb. 472) (2000) ii. xiv. 734 Thanne schal thei feelen and fynden the peyne of here wikkidnesse.
a1500 (?a1400) Firumbras (1935) l. 984 (MED) Allas..that euer thys sorw schulde be founde.
1550 J. Heywood Hundred Epigrammes lix. sig. Cv Into what place so euer H, maie pyke him, Where euer thou find ache, thou shalt not like hym.
1584 E. Paget tr. J. Calvin Harmonie vpon Three Euangelists 11 They that finde hurte in drinking of wine, let them willinglye abstaine.
1625 W. Narne Christs Starre vii. 128 They that are sicke, who are touched with a sense of their disease, and finde the paine of their sickenesse, and long greatly for health and recouerie.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 369 Before she findes the throwes of her travell.
1684 R. Bovet Pandæmonium 139 She resolv'd to starve her self, till finding the pains of a sharp hunger, she had Milk came into her Paps.
1722 A. Ramsay Fables & Tales 19 The humble Reptile fand some Pain Thus to be banter'd with Disdain.
1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. II. 298 Henry found little uneasiness at Perkin's irruption.
1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 36 I find no pain.
1844 J. Lemon Lays St. Mungo 32 We wadna ken pleasure if we never fan' pain.
1869 in A. C. Gibson Folk-speech Cumberland 163 But just when he thowte o' his trubble was gean, A pain com' agean, war nor iver he'd fund.
a1917 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick (1927) 11 Hei caresna what ails foak, as lang as hei's no finndin't.
b. transitive. To suffer from, feel unpleasantly (the cold, etc.); to suffer pain or discomfort in (a part of one's body). Also intransitive with of or on. Now rare (chiefly English regional and Newfoundland).
ΚΠ
c1330 (a1250) Harrowing of Hell (Auch.) (1907) l. 49 (MED) Seþþen haue y fond & wist hot & cold, hunger & þrest.
1722 tr. L. Lange Journey from Petersburg in tr. F. C. Weber Present State Russia II. 24 We did not find the Cold..very sensibly.
1884 R. Jefferies Red Deer xiii. 154 Even those who are hardened to it find of the cold.
1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 79 Find of, to feel. ‘I find of this weak ankle in frosty weather.’
1900 H. C. M. Barton in Eng. Dial. Dict. II. 359/2 How's the rheumatics, John?—Oh, I finds on it in mi shoulder.
1940 A. R. Scammell Songs of Newfoundlander 7 He cranked till he found of his heart.
1961 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 175/1 I finds me back.
1970 P. Janes House of Hate 25 He ‘found’ his stomach, it seemed, and could get no satisfaction in his diet.
c. transitive. Chiefly Scottish. To apprehend with the physical senses; esp. to perceive (a smell or taste), to feel or experience (a pain). Cf. sense 16 and feel v. 6. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [verb (transitive)]
fredec888
haveeOE
yfeeleOE
feelc1175
perceivec1330
comprehendc1374
find?a1425
perceiver1495
to take up1607
sensatea1652
percept1652
to suck ina1661
sense1661
appreciate1787
absorb1840
sensize1861
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > [verb (transitive)] > perceive taste of (something)
feelc1225
smack1340
taste1340
find?a1425
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > [verb (transitive)] > track or perceive using sense of smell
i-stinkc1000
smellc1175
smakec1220
feelc1225
asmellc1320
savoura1382
scenta1425
winda1425
get1530
vent1575
nose1577
smell1608
resent1614
snuff1697
to get (also take, pick up) the scent1723
to carry scent1753
find1827
snuffle1871
flair1919
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 10 At the cop of þat hill..men may fynde no wynd.
1629 Z. Boyd Two Serm. 95 Blind Isaac finding a smell of Esau his garment, rejoyced.
1778 A. Ross Helenore (ed. 2) 14 Baith their hearties fand the common stound.
1827 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxx, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 100 Do you fin' the smell o' burnin', sir?
1835 J. D. Carrick Laird of Logan I. 88 There's an awfu' death-wark at my heart, I never fand ony thing like it before.
1842 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes Scotl. (rev. ed.) 67/1 On Christmas night I turned the spit, I burnt my fingers—I find it yet.
1924 G. A. England Vikings of Ice 162 The doctor came along with an ice-blinded man..‘Studdy [steady] me alang, sir’, said the victim. ‘I find [feel] it like sand in my eyes’.
1931 Shetland Almanac Compan. 187 A body cud 'a fun' da smell o' him twinty yairds awa', wi' his hair oil an' scent.
1982 D. Purves Storie o Caermoulis in Sc. Corpus Texts & Speech Ah fancie Ah finnd the whuff o fresh bluid about the place.
†7. transitive. To detect or apprehend (a person) in an offence; to uncover (an illicit action); (also) to discover the identity of (a person); = to find out 4 at Phrasal verbs. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)]
seeOE
fanda1000
finda1200
kenc1330
lenda1350
agropea1393
contrive1393
to find outc1405
outsearch?a1439
ripec1440
inventc1475
disclose?a1500
fish1531
agnize?1570
discover1585
to grope out1590
out-find1590
expiscate1598
vent1611
to learn out1629
to get to know1643
develop1653
ascertain1794
stag1796
root1866
to get a line on1903
establish1919
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > detect > detect (a person) in wrongdoing or predicament
finda1200
overtakea1325
takec1330
oftakea1382
overgoa1400
deprehenda1535
reprehend1538
to find out1545
surprise?1592
nail1766
pawl1859
bust1960
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 5 Forleteð gure synne þat ge ne ben ifunden on sunne.
c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: John (Hatton) viii. 4 Lareow, þis wyf wæs funden [OE Corpus Cambr. afundyn] on unrihtan hameðe.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) l. 177 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 171 (MED) Þa þe habbeð doules werc idon & þer inne bo ifunde.
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 558 (MED) Who is founde hond habbing, Hit nis non nede of witnessing.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 547 War þe now..In þe fylþe of þe flesch þat þou be founden never.
c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 229 Sche was founde wyth þe dede.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 550/1 Howe canste thou denye it, wast thou nat founde with the maner?
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age i. sig. C3v This imposture neuer shall be found.
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. 154 The first time he is found in a Lye, it should rather be wondered at as a monstrous Thing in him.
1743 J. Wesley Jrnl. 1 Jan. (1855) I. 276 O, I find you! I find you! I know where you are! Is not your name Wesley?
a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 170 Had some laird his lady fand In sic unseemly courses.
8. transitive. To gain or recover the use of (one's limbs, powers, etc.). See also to find one's feet at Phrases 3, to find one's legs at Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > use or make use of [verb (transitive)] > bring or put into use > specifically a faculty > regain the use of
recovera1500
find1566
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. L.vi Augustus nowe is dead and gone, his fame hath founde her wynges, Of hym, the broode of Pegasse house, and noble Muses synges.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. xix. 438 They thought it high time for the Cow to find her horns.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 97 His [sc. the Sun's] beams, unactive else, thir vigor find . View more context for this quotation
a1788 J. Wesley & C. Wesley in Poet. Wks. (1871) XI. 176 Body and soul shall soon arise, Find their wings and spurn the ground.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. lxxiii. 87 The groveling worm Shall find his wings.
1993 J. Lowerson Sport & Eng. Middle Classes 1870–1914 (1995) v. 133 Until they could find enough financial muscle to put down roots.
2014 Sunday Life (Belfast) (Nexis) 16 Mar. 70 McGinn, meanwhile, has found his wings since being on the margins at Celtic.
II. To discover or attain by search or effort.
9.
a. To discover or obtain by searching.
(a) transitive. Also with indirect object indicating the person for whom something is sought.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]
findOE
yfindOE
hita1075
befindc1200
out-findc1300
to try outc1325
to find outa1375
to find upc1390
ascryc1400
outwryc1400
inventc1475
vent1611
to hit off1680
discover1762
to scare up1846
to pick up1869
rumble1897
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > by searching or tracking down
findOE
track1565
to start up1566
explore1592
to find forth1601
tracea1913
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by care or effort > by searching
findOE
forage1630
scrabble1657
to grope out1701
routc1776
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxvi. 60 Principes autem sacerdotum et omne concilium quaerebant falsum testimonium contra iesum..et non inuenerunt : ða aldor ðonne sacerda & all ðiu somnung gesohton leas witnessa wið ðone hælend..& ne fundon.
OE St. Euphrosyne (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1900) II. 342 Gif ic nu fare to fæmnena mynstre, þonne secð min fæder me þær, and me þær findað.
c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 215 (MED) Þo kinges hem wenten and hi seghen þo sterre..al swo hi hedden i-fonden ure louerd.
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) xxxvi. 38 (MED) Ich soȝt hym, and his stede nas nouȝt yfunden.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Squire's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 462 Herbes shal I right ynowe fynde To heele with youre hurtes.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 60 Yar mycht succed na female Quhill foundyn mycht be ony male.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique i. f. 53 Is his Lease long enough... Then..I wil finde a hole in it, I warrant thee.
?1587 R. Southwell Epist. Comfort iv. f. 54v The vncleane crowe, can vppon carren and dead carcases finde footing.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. ii. 108 The worlde was very guiltie of such a Ballet some three ages since, but I thinke now tis not to be found . View more context for this quotation
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i 1) 17 The truth of faith cannot find footing vpon follies, or fansies.
1656 A. Cowley Misc. 12 in Poems A Bird..Finding at last no passage out It sits, and sings.
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 85 The Roses of Jericho were not to be found at this season.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. xxxvii. 258 Allow me that word, or find me a better.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 95 The Muse, nae Poet ever fand her, Till by himsel he learn'd to wander.
1803 Lit. Mag. & Amer. Reg. Dec. 237/2 As the peasant-boy runs to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 534 The exiles..tried to find another leader.
1870 C. F. Gordon Cumming in Good Words 133/2 The slope [is] so rapid that you can scarcely find footing.
1896 E. Turner Little Larrikin xv. 171 The fates chose that he should be allotted to find a cucumber sandwich for his hostess's sister-in-law.
1942 C. Beaton Diary Jan. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 90 Waving a lantern in an endeavour to find a telephone box.
1953 J. Wain Hurry on Down 123 I've pestered our news editor into promising that he'll find me space for it..—it might be the making of me.
1990 H. Thurston Tidal Life 79/3 Finding crystals of shocked quartz..is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.
2005 H. Mantel Beyond Black ii. 3 Alison was leaning into the mirror, about to paint her mouth on. ‘Could you find me a coffee?’ ‘Or a gin and tonic?’
(b) intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (intransitive)] > by searching
findOE
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 9 And ic eow secge, biddað, & eow byð seald, secað, & ge findað.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3190 He..hauen sogt, And funden, and hauen up brogt Ðe bones.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vii. 7 Seke ȝe, and ȝe shulen fynde.
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 240 Knockeþ and it schal be openyd to ȝou; axiþ and ȝe schulen haue; seekeþ and ȝe schulen fynde.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 107 (MED) In sekynge þai suld not sees to þa had fun.
a1555 N. Ridley Treat. Transubst. in Certein Conf. Ridley & Latimer (1556) sig. Eivv Christe biddeth vs aske and wee shall haue, Searche and we shall finde, Knocke and it shal be opened vnto vs.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Lancs. 107 Tye them with the Tape, and also, (because sure bind sure find) to bind them about with points and Laces all made in the same place.
1827 S. T. Coleridge Poems (1924) 465 That quiet perpetual seeking which the presence of the beloved object modulates,..where the heart momently finds, and, finding, again seeks on.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Ulysses in Poems (new ed.) II. 91 Strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
1967 Listener 3 Aug. 148/2 Beckett forces upon you a do-it-yourself Tantalus-kit. He requires you to seek and not to find.
2004 V. Politis Routledge Philos. GuideBk. to Aristotle iii. 66 How is it possible to search, and to find, in metaphysics, i.e. to search for knowledge of the nature of being in general and as a whole?
b. transitive. To rediscover or recover (something lost).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > again
findOE
recovera1387
refind1499
rediscover1625
retrieve1647
OE tr. Vitas Patrum in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 202 Ic dyde Gode þancas, forþan ic funde þone munuchad in þam westene, þe ic ær on mynstre forlet.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xviii. 13 Gyf hyt gelimpþ þæt he hyt [sc. the sheep] fint.., he swyðor geblissaþ for þam anum þonne ofer þa nigon & hundnigontig þe na ne losedon.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 39 Lauerd..min heorte is icomen me eft. ich hire habbe ifunden.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xv. 5 Whanne he hath founden it, he ioyinge puttith on his shuldris.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4108 He went him forth and forþer soght Til he þam faand he finid noght.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 327 Now haf I fonte þat I forlete.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 53 He wyste not them [sc. his knyghtes] to fynde.
1550 N. Lesse tr. St. Augustine Worke Predestination Saints xx. sig. L.viv I was not quyet in my spirit, bycause I dyd not fynde my brother Titus.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. i. 143 By aduenturing both [shafts], I oft found both. View more context for this quotation
a1626 L. Andrewes XCVI Serm. (1629) 827 God found you then, and you found Him, certainly.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 479 She disappeerd..I wak'd To find her, or for ever to deplore Her loss. View more context for this quotation
1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemanship ix. 42 I..soon found the hounds again.
1848 A. Albites Compan. to How to speak French iii. 74 What shall I do to find my bodkin? You will find it in the lady's companion.
1894 A. B. Gomme Trad. Games I. 96 My lady's lost her diamond ring; I pitch upon you to find it!
1923 Humorist 29 Dec. 575/2 Walking up to the shop-walker, he said:—‘I can't find my wife anywhere. What shall I do?’
1973 P. Campbell 35 Years on Job 217 I have stripped both beds..and I still can't find my sock.
2015 Scotsman (Nexis) 23 May I initially thought I must have put it [sc. an engagement ring] elsewhere. I started looking everywhere, but could not find it.
c. To discover or find the scent of (game) in hunting.
(a) transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (transitive)] > discover (game)
finda1300
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 6 Alle hise fet steppes after him he filleð..ðat he ne cunne is finden.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 203 (MED) Þei founde ful sone a grete bor.
c1475 (?c1425) Avowing of King Arthur (1984) l. 481 Þe bore brittunt þay funde, Was colurt of the kingus hunde [read hande].
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. evv When she shall with houndes be foundyn and soght.
1545 W. Turner Rescuynge of Romishe Fox sig. Cviv The fox runnethe out..sum tyme bakward and sum tyme forwarde, that my houndes shuld not fynde hym.
1606 Returne from Pernassus ii. v. sig. D2v Through good reclaiming my faulty hounds found their game againe.
1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) i. 15 When Hounds..finde some Game or Chase, we say, They Challenge.
1763 Bailey's Universal Etymol. Dict. (ed. 20) Setter, a dog taught to find game, and point it out to the sportsman.
1796 Sporting Mag. Feb. 231/1 On the 5th of February, this gentleman's hounds found another fox at East and Deer wood, at a quarter before one o'clock.
1846 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I. at Call When hounds are first cast off, and find game, they are said to call on.
1897 D. H. Madden Diary W. Silence 22 The huntsman brought with him his liam-hound, a pure-bred blood-hound used for finding and harbouring the deer.
1912 J. B. Thomas Observ. Borzoi ii. 22 There were human beaters and scent-hounds finding the game.
2012 Independent 14 Dec. 7/3 As a scent hound the Beagle has few equals—it can find a mouse in a one-acre field in less than a minute.
(b) intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > strike scent
scenta1398
find1565
hit it off1704
to hit off a fault1749
to hit off the line1977
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Circunspéctus Good houndes that open not but where they finde.
1626 N. Breton Fantasticks sig. E3 The hounds begin to find after the Hare, and horse and foot follow after the cry.
1782 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting (new ed.) xxiii. 339 The hounds had found, and were running hard; the farmer came up in high spirits.
1848 A. Jameson Sacred & Legendary Art I. 318 The dogs..found.
1883 J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 207 Lady Montego..heard the view hallo..They had found.
1930 C. Frederick et al. Fox-hunting xxii. 222 Hounds found at once, and forcing their fox away..ran past Lady Wood.
1986 Horse & Hound 18 Apr. 81/1 Hounds met..and after a scentless morning found near Slap Pond and ran wild across Gander Down.
d. transitive (reflexive). To discover and attain one's special place, power, or vocation; (also) to achieve an inner sense of integration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > discover one's place, power, or vocation [verb (reflexive)]
find?1531
?1531 R. Barnes Supplic. Kinge Henrye VIII f. xliv As. S. Augustine faithe in these wordes. The law was geuyn that man myght fynd hym selfe, and not to make his syknes holle.
?1556 J. Scory tr. St. Augustine Of Goodnes of Perseueraunce xxiv, in tr. St. Augustine Predestiuacion of Saintes f. 119v What so euer faythfull man is desyrous truely to vnderstande predestinacion, let hym beholde hym, and in hym, he may also fynd hymselfe.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. P6 Infinitely sh' has fun Herself, her deep'st desire unspeakably hath wonne.
1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 839 Browning may be said almost to have found himself in the delight he had in reading other persons' souls.
1893 Academy 11 Mar. 222/1 It was as assistant to Bain that Minto found himself.
1906 H. James in Harper's Mag. 112 901/2 One is verily tempted to ask if the hotel spirit may not just be the American spirit most seeking and most finding itself.
1963 Christian Cent. 9 Jan. 49/1 But the Augustinian, and biblical, position addresses man the other way around: Find God and you will find yourself.
1987 A. Theroux Adultery (1997) 86 Running off to transpersonal communities where they could wear dirndls and play zithers and get into self-expression and find themselves.
2013 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 1 June 53 Tonight's truly trite tale involves..a disgusted, jaded, successful country singer who goes back to his tiny hometown to find himself.
e. transitive. Of a letter, etc.: to reach (a person). Also: (of an address) to be adequate to enable correspondence to reach (a person). Compare earlier to find out 5 at Phrasal verbs.Sometimes also (cf. quots. 1711, 1825): (of a letter, etc.) to arrive when a person is engaged in a particular activity, or in a specified condition. Frequently in I hope this finds you well, and variants (cf. quot. 1908). Cf. sense 1a(b).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > sending items > send items [verb (transitive)] > reach a person (of address)
find1922
1612 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 89 Sir if this Letter finde you in a progresse, or at Bath, or at any place of equall leasure to our Spá, you will perchance descend to reade so low meditations as these.
1679 tr. M. Mancini Apol. 92 The Gentleman brought me a Letter from her Majesty, wherein she commanded me in very obliging Terms, not to come beyond the place where this Letter should find me.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 131. ¶9 I Suppose this Letter will find thee picking of Daisies, or smelling to a Lock of Hay.
1762 J. Pitcher Let. 26 July in S. K. Stevens & D. H. Kent Papers Henry Bouquet Series 21648 Pt. II (1942) 24 I pleasure myself this [letter] will find you.
1825 W. Scott Let. 31 July (1935) IX. 195 Your kind letter..finds me sweltering under the hottest weather I ever experienced.
1876 University Mag. Apr. 440/1 This address will find me any time. Mr. Hatchett will forward any letters to me.
1908 Book-Keeper June 477/1 Friend Abe: I trust this letter finds you well. The same I can assure you.
1922 W. B. Yeats Let. 7 July (1954) v. 687 82 Merrion Square will always find us.
1945 P. Larkin Let. 31 Oct. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 110 Your letter found me last night when I came in off the piss: in point of fact I had spewed out of a train window.
1970 J. Betjeman Let. in Cornish Guardian (Nexis) (2006) 9 Aug. 53 Goodness knows when next I shall be down in Cornwall, but if you are ever up in London, the above address will find me.
2001 J. Hansen One True Friend (2005) 40 I have a Suggestion for Today: Think Only Positive Thoughts: My Letter Will Find My Aunt My Aunt Will Find My Letter.
f. transitive. Sport (esp. Golf and Association Football). To strike or throw a ball, puck, etc., in such a way as to hit (a target or specified location); (of a ball) to hit a target. Also in to find the net (and variants): to score a goal. Cf. sense 15a.
ΚΠ
1886 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 16 Feb. 2/4 The Milwaukees couldn't find the net, and the Racines made three more goals.
1913 Manch. Guardian 27 Aug. 3/6 Hamilton profited through his opponent..finding the water on the way to the ninth.
1930 Cambr. Daily News 24 Sept. 7/1 Snow..found the net during a scrimmage in the goalmouth.
1977 Golf June 101 It's amazing how often your ball finds those trees.
1991 Furrow 42 584 As often as not he finds the trees, the sand, the water. The ordinary club golfer can identify with this.
2015 Daily Globe (Worthington, Minnesota) 21 May Christensen said he didn't hit many greens in his second round but was still able to find the hole in few strokes.
10. transitive. To ascertain or attain by mental effort; to discover by study or attention.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] > by experience
findOE
afondOE
afindOE
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > find out by investigation [verb (transitive)] > by study or observation
findOE
to find outc1405
investigate?1495
to find forth?a1500
spell1587
research1588
rifle1614
excudate1831
work1840
approfound1885
OE Crist I 184 Hu mæg ic ladigan laþan spræce, oþþe ondsware ænige findan wraþum towiþere?
OE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 296 Eaðe mæg se mann findan [a1225 Lamb. fundan] hu he hine sylfne amyrre.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 705 Þe niȝtingale..hadde andsuere gode ifunde.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 3072 (MED) Problemes and demandes eke, His wisdom was to finde and seke.
a1398 (a1349) R. Rolle Commandm. of Love (Rawl.) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 65 (MED) Crist may þou not fynde; for he is not founden in þaire londe þat lifes in flescheli lustes.
a1425 Of Mynystris in Chirche (Bodl. 788) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) II. 414 (MED) Men shulden fiynde þat it mai not be proved þat it is resonable to have sich a pope.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) cxxxvii. 204 The duc..bad hym saye that he hath founden.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 46 We may peraventure fynd some mean to restore our cuntrey.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 3 Teach me to..finde What winde Serves to advance an honest minde.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) To Find the Ships Trim, a term in navigation to find how she will sail best.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 117 This Remedy the Scythian Shepherds found . View more context for this quotation
1764 G. G. Beekman Let. 20 Aug. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 472 Mr. Tillinhast will then become his Security for the Ballance. If not, they will find a way to Secure me.
1795 E. P. Simcoe Diary 23 Aug. (2007) 202 The miller who lives here has a project of finding a means to drag these logs on shore in which case it will answer him to build a Saw Mill here.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 481 We must rest contented with viewing the true figure of an object, without expecting to find its natural colour.
1897 ‘M. Twain’ Tom Sawyer Detective 115 They found where the thief had got his disguise out of his carpet-sack.
1922 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 94 46 We can..find how this metabolism is related to the amount of metabolisable substance in the organism.
2014 Good Housek. Apr. 97/2 Perhaps you need to address this and find a way to achieve some closure.
†11.
a. transitive. To contrive, devise, invent; to compose (a song, music, etc.); to discover (a scientific fact, etc.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > invention, devising > invent, devise [verb (transitive)]
findeOE
understand1297
devisea1300
shapec1381
warpa1387
enginec1400
weavec1420
reparel1434
studyc1530
conjecture1551
spina1575
ingeniate1592
think1599
to pattern out1601
decoct1602
smooth1603
to fetch about1611
fancy1635
plait1642
erect1646
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)]
findeOE
conceive1340
seek1340
brewc1386
divine1393
to find outc1405
to search outc1425
to find up?c1430
forgec1430
upfindc1440
commentc1450
to dream out1533
inventa1538
father1548
spina1575
coin1580
conceit1591
mint1593
spawn1594
cook1599
infantize1619
fabulize1633
notionate1645
to make upc1650
to spin outa1651
to cook up1655
to strike out1735
mother1788
to think up1855
to noodle out1950
gin1980
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. viii. 51 Hie from heora wicstowum under þære eorþan dulfon, oþ hie binnan þære byrig up eodon, & hie..þa burg mid ealle awestan. Þysne nyttan cræft..funde heora tictator.
OE Cynewulf Fates of Apostles 1 Ic þysne sang siðgeomor fand on seocum sefan, samnode wide hu þa æðelingas ellen cyðdon.
a1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 8 Þet þu bringe þene Munuch to þire glednesse þet funde ðesne song bi ðe.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 440 Met of corn and wigte of fe And merke of felde first fond he.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1030 The ferste in thilke lond..which the melodie fond Of Riedes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1469 Enoch..was þe first þat letters fand.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 736 Or ellis he moot telle his tale vntrewe Or feyne thyng or fynde wordes newe.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 534 For this eende religiouns weren founde and foundid.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 322 Who fyrst founde the needle of the compasse, and the vse thereof.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 145 Many..haue found suggestions..to bring this your realme vnto subuersion.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 122 About this time..Anaximander found the obliquity of the Zodiack.
1739 J. Hanna tr. C. Wolfius Treat. Algebra 58 This is called the Theorem of Pythagoras, because he first found it, for which his Auditors sacrificed 100 oxen to the Gods.
b. transitive. To devise, fabricate, or concoct (something unreal or false); to invent or tell (a lie); to counterfeit (an excuse). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Seven Sleepers (Julius) (1994) 53 Ic her ongyten hæbbe þæt þu eart an forswiðe leas man, and wel canst..lease tale findan.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 9 (MED) Ðis was ðe forme leasinge ðe æure was ȝefunde.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 61 (MED) Þe uerste is huanne me vint leaȝinges.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. Prol. l. 36 Bote Iapers and Iangelers..Founden hem Fantasyes and fooles hem maaden.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 1580 He was yn purpos gret Hym self lyk a Pylgrym to degyse To sen here but he may not contrefete To ben vnknowen of folk þat weren wyse Ne fynde excuse a-right þat may suffise.
c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 66 (MED) Traitours and flatterers that so myche fals lyhyng has founde.
?1510 Treatyse Galaunt (de Worde) sig. Aiv They laboure sore in theyr wyttes fantasyes to fynde.
12. Law.
†a. transitive. To determine (a penalty or fee). Also intransitive. Obsolete.Only in Old English.
ΚΠ
eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) Introd. xxi. 34 Gif se oxa..wer oððe wif ofsloge,..sie se hlaford ofslegen oððe forgolden, swa ðæt witan to ryhte finden [lOE Rochester fyndaþ].
eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) i. §8. 48 Gif hwa nunnan mid hæmeðþinge..on hire breost butan hire leafe gefo, sie hit twybete swa we ær be læwdum men fundon.
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. lxxi. 356 Beon þa heregeata swa fundene [lOE Corpus Cambr. 383 gefundene], swa hit mæðlic si.
b. transitive. To agree upon and deliver, bring in (a verdict). Frequently with that-clause as object indicating the verdict.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > give verdict or sentence
givea1300
findc1400
passa1616
to bring in1684
record1824
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 250 (MED) It was fonden by enquest of þe citee, þat þe Englisshe-men biganne þe debate.
1435 Ayr Burgh Court Bks. 3 Oct. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) The court awardit & fand at the pleg that the said John fand was of valow.
1527 Statutes Prohemium Iohannis Rastell (new ed.) f. cliv Yf it be found that he did not acquite hym he shal yeld damage to the plaintiff and shalbe foriuggid.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. xli The graunde assyse ought by the lawe to fynde that [etc.].
1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha xviii. 155 If it were found by one Inquirie that I my selfe was saised vntill A. disseised me with force, and by any other Iurie found that the sayd A. was saised vntil by me disseised with force, then euery of vs..may pray restitution, against the other.
1638 R. Bolton Iustice of Peace for Ireland ii. vi. 16 If any person or persons shall embrace any Iurors by bribes to finde a verdict for the one partie or the other..the offendour is to be grievously punished.
a1657 J. Balfour Hist. Wks. (1824) II. 58 The said courte..fand that the said edicte did no wayes extend towardes the subiectes of the kingdome of Scotland.
1770 G. Wilson Rep. Cases King's Courts 2 97 If such an issue had gone to a jury, and they had found a verdict one way or other, it would have been a mistrial, as it refers a matter of law to the lay gents.
1784 Parker's Gen. Advertiser 4 June A verdict was therefore found in favour of the plaintiff.
1829 Bristol Mercury 14 July 6/4 The damages were laid at 2000l., and the Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, subject to a reference.
1880 Daily Tel. 26 Nov. The Judge directed them that to find a verdict of guilty they must be satisfied that the defendant omitted to perform an obvious duty in navigating his launch.
1888 Law Times 85 132/2 The jury at the trial found that the managing director..had ratified the contract.
1898 Daily News 9 Nov. 4/5 The jury found..that he was occasionally unsound in mind.
1939 Times 21 June 4/3 The jury found that Mrs. Gibbons did not accept the £1 1s. in accord and satisfaction, and they awarded her £50 damages.
1962 Amer. Maritime Cases Apr. 974 The Court finds that the New Zealand Victory..allided with the westernmost of the two gantry cranes on that pier.
2000 N.Y. Times 6 Apr. c11/1 The appeals court had found that Judge Jackson was wrong on the law when he ordered Microsoft to immediately unbundle its Windows operating system.
2014 S. Young in M. Groves Mod. Admin. Law in Austral. xiii. 286 The High Court found the proceedings to be flawed by reason of..the prosecution's calling of Kirk as a witness.
2015 Telegraph-Jrnl. (New Brunswick) (Nexis) 26 Mar. b1 If the jury feels there was provocation..they must find a verdict of manslaughter.
c. transitive. To determine and declare (a person) guilty or innocent.In quot. c1475 in † to find of doom: to determine the guilt or innocence of (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > decide for or against a litigant
find1426
to give it1573
to give the case1573
1426–7 W. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 9 Þe seyd Walter and Richard were founden gilty of þe seyd trespas by an jnquisicion þer-of takyn.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 45 Þe Holi Goost wan he comiþ schal find þis world of dome.
1531–2 Act 23 Henry VIII c. 1 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 363 Any person..founde gyltye of any abbettment.
1535 ( in W. Fraser Registrum Monasterii Cambuskenneth (1872) 260 We fand him dempt lauchfully in twa wnlawis to the said abbot.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 290 He will be found in his fault, that wantis foroutin weir.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. i. 7 Is he found guilty? View more context for this quotation
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. Thirty-nine Articles xv. 139 We find the same Zachary guilty of misbelieving the Message of the Angel to him.
1707 R. Nelson Compan. Festivals & Fasts (ed. 4) ii. x. 601 The Christian Church..proceeded with great severity against such as were found guilty of Simony.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 12 He finds his fellow guilty of a skin Not colour'd like his own.
1821 Examiner 26 Aug. 544/1 The Jury found the defendants guilty.
1897 Eastern Province (Port Elizabeth S. Afr.) Herald 5 Mar. Four Kafir labourers, on the railway, were found guilty of causing the death of Scholtz Jacoba, in a faction fight at Graaff-Reinet.
1958 Chicago Sun-Times 14 Dec. 78 Defendants in Chicago, as in Los Angeles, are found innocent on the age old legal premise of ‘reasonable doubt’.
2010 TNT Mag. 12 Apr. 40/4 The..saboteurs, who were found not guilty of burglary and wilful damages charges.
d. transitive. To determine and declare (an issue) to be (such); to determine (an issue) for or against a party to the case. Formerly also: †to determine and declare (an offence) to have been committed (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > determine an offence to have been committed
find1429
1429–30 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Sept. 1429 §15. m. 14 And if any merchaundise..be perisshed or lost be infortune of the see, or take be enemys; and that duely founden, and proved before the tresorer of Englond..that thenne the seid merchauntz deniszeins..may shippe as moch merchandises..as was so perished..withoute eny subsidie thereof to be paied.
1437 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1437 §26. m. 5 Pleded, tried, and founden ageyn these .xiij. defendauntz.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §43. m. 27 The seid offences..myght not..be convenyently punysshed by the due ordre of the lawe, except it were first founde and presented by the verdite of .xij. men.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §43. m. 27 The persone which shall geve þe seid informacion..shall..paye to the seid persone..damages in that behalfe susteyned, if it be tried or founde ayenst hym.
c1523 J. Rastell Expos. Terminorum Legum Anglorum sig. C.i If the lord ther vppon bryng a wryt of ryght sur disclamer yf it be found agaynst the tenaunt, he shal lose the land.
1534 G. Ferrers tr. Bk. Magna Carta f. 11 He whose dogge is not lawed and so founde shalbe amercyed and paye for the same .iii. s.
1562 All Statutes Stannary (new ed.) sig. Bii If any person or persons being tinners, voluntarily appere before any man..if it be founde by verdite of .xii. men at the lawdaie, that then he to make fine with the warden or his deputie after his or their discrecion.
1580 T. Lupton Siuqila (new ed.) 90 Thou hast sent me two true witnesses, by which two witnesses..my truth shall be tryed, and their falsenesse shall be founde.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 9 They saide he hanged himselfe, but it was fownde contrarie.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 4 The crowner hath sate on her, and finds it Christian buriall. View more context for this quotation
a1625 H. Finch Law (1627) iv. xxxi. 370 If the vouchee counterplead the warrantie, and it be found against him, he shall lose the land.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 270 If it were found for the supposed offender he was bailed till the next comming of the Justices.
1675 C. Hatton in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 121 Ye crowner's inquest have found it only manslaughter.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 553 The Coroners Jury found it self-murder.
1735 tr. Rep. Sir H. Yelverton (ed. 3) 116 The Defendant pleaded an insufficient Justification, on which thy were at Issue, and it was found for the Plaintiff.
1790 C. Durnford & E. H. East Rep. Cases King's Bench 3 693 If an executor may plead plene administravit and neglect to do so, I see no difference between such a case and one where he does so plead and the plea is found against him.
1817 W. Selwyn Abridgem. Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1223 Judgment shall be given for defendant, although the issue be found against him.
1896 Law Q. Rev. July 199 The Official Receiver must find fraud, not at large, but against the particular examinee.
1916 Eng. Rep. 158 1016 One unimportant point is found in favour of the plaintiff, and every other matter in favour of the defendant.
1984 M. Murray in R. Burgin & P. Hansel Library Overdues 54 When judgment is found against the borrower, the library files the judgment to appear on the person's credit rating.
e. transitive. To ascertain the validity of (an indictment, etc.). Now U.S. to find a (true) bill: see bill n.3 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > prove, demonstrate [verb (transitive)]
i-sothea925
soothec950
fanda1000
kitheOE
betell1048
showc1175
prove?c1225
treousec1275
stablisha1325
approve1340
verifyc1386
justifya1393
tryc1412
answer?a1425
appreve?c1450
to make gooda1470
convictc1475
averifyc1503
arguea1513
find1512
pree1515
comprobate1531
demonstrate1538
conclude1549
convince1555
argument1558
evict1571
avoucha1593
evidencea1601
remonstrate1601
clear1605
attaint1609
monstrate1609
evince1610
evince1611
improve1613
remonstrance1621
to make out1653
ascertain1670
to bring off1674
to make (something) to through1675
render1678
substantiatea1691
establisha1704
to bring out1727
realize1763
validate1775
society > law > rule of law > [verb (transitive)] > validate or ratify
confirmc1290
affirma1325
authorize1431
corrobore1485
stable1501–2
find1512
corroborate1530
authenticate1555
warrant1598
validatea1648
convalidate1656
execute1737
enforce1756
homologatea1765
sanction1778
formalize1855
1512 Act 4 Henry VIII c. 10 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 55 Any office or offices founde afore Eschetoure or Eschetours.
1534 Act 26 Henry VIII c. 2 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 493 An ynditement of xij men laufully founden.
1609 F. Pulton De Pace Regis et Regni f. 136 If a Iudge doe file an indictment with other indictments, which was not found by the Iury, that did find other indictments.
1642 R. Quatermayne Conquest over Canterburies Court 34 By the information of the Sergeants, and the pressing upon them by the Officer of the Court, one and twenty of them were agreed to finde the Bill.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 99 This Indictment and Information was found by the Grand Jury.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. xxiii. 301 To find a bill, there must at least twelve of the [grand] jury agree.
1845 H. J. Stephen New Comm. Laws Eng. II. 484 An indictment for treason..must be found within three years after the commission of the act of treason.
1915 H. F. Stone Law & its Admin. v. 116 In most states the grand jury alone has power to find an indictment.
1999 N. Capace Encycl. Oregon 326 A grand jury shall consist of seven jurors..five of whom must concur to find an indictment.
f. intransitive. To bring in a verdict. Frequently with for or against, indicating a favourable or unfavourable decision or settlement.
ΚΠ
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 210 They would..inforce them to finde as they would direct.
a1734 R. North Lives of Norths (1826) I. 266 He had his jury to deal with, and if he did not tread upon eggs, they would conclude sinistrously, and be apt to find against his opinion.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxiii. 370 ‘Do you find for the plaintiff, gentlemen, or for the defendant?’ ‘For the plaintiff.’
1870 Scotsman 17 Feb. 7/1 The Lord Ordinary has pronounced the following interlocutor and note, finding in favour of the pursuer.
1891 Law Times 90 283/1 The jury..found for the plaintiff.
1954 Billboard 24 Apr. 92/3 This necessitated a re-argument of the case.., but this time the high justices were unanimous in finding for Portland.
1990 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Nov. 41/2 The Lord Chancellor of England gave some indication of the value of Frances Barber's testimony by finding against the side for which she appeared.
1994 Stamp Mag. Nov. 27/3 The court found in favour of the USPS's limit.
2013 D. Kelly Death, Taxes, & Hot Pink Leg Warmers 250 ‘The first charge is mortgage fraud. How do you find?’ ‘Guilty,’ Hipster said.
13.
a. transitive. To succeed in obtaining (something officially required); to procure or provide (money, bail, sureties, †hostages, etc.). Cf. sense 17.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by care or effort
begeteOE
findOE
bewinc1175
getc1175
conquerc1230
reachc1275
procurec1325
makec1350
fishc1374
catchc1384
furneya1400
attainc1405
tillc1440
to pick out1577
to get a gripe ofa1586
secure1743
raise1838
to get one's hooks on (also into)1926
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. xxv. 328 Finde þonne gyt borh, gif he mæge.
lOE Laws of Æðelstan (Rochester) vi. iv. 175 Syððan him spor burste, þæt man funde ænne man..to rade oððe to gange, buton ma þurfe, þider þonne mæst þearf sy.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Efsones he [sc. the king] let him [sc. Earl Rannulf] ut þurhc wærse red, to ðat forewarde ðat he suor on halidom & gysles fand þat he alle his castles sculde iiuen up.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2388 Him wolden finden ȝisel of his gilde.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 10226 (MED) To vinde him gode borewes & sauf condut.
1415 in E. F. Jacob & H. C. Johnson Reg. Henry Chichele (1937) II. 49 (MED) Þat he fynde sufficiant suerte er hit be delivered to hym.
1474–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 3rd Roll §39. m. 11 Uppon suertie therfore to be founden.
1505 in D. Littlejohn Rec. Sheriff Court Aberdeenshire (1904) I. 91 Duncan Thomsone fand borrowis in the hands of Thomas Bisset..that [etc.].
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Finde suerties, vadio.
1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 110 Gif sic borgh may not be founden, he sall pas to the knawledge of ane assise.
1640 in J. Nicholson Minute Bk. War Comm. Covenanters Kirkcudbright 4 Nov. (1855) 81 They find suretie to uthers, as accords of the law.
1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 118 May it therefore please your Lordship..to modify the Sum for which your Petitioners are to find Bail.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 289 He may be committed summarily to prison until he shall find sureties.
1797 J. Wentworth Compl. Syst. Pleading I. 21 If they should refuse to find such security, then to cause them to be safely kept in the prison of the said late king George the First.
1821 Examiner 3 June 350/1 You shall find security for your good behaviour.
1868 Act 31 & 32 Victoria c. 54 §5 It shall not be necessary..to find Security for Expenses.
1956 P. O'Brian Golden Ocean (1996) ii. 36 They would nab you at once and then it would be days and days of finding surety of good behaviour and all that.
2004 Geneva Papers Risk & Insurance 29 236 As part of their employment ‘contract’ clerks also had to find surety.
b. transitive. To summon up (courage, resolution, etc., to do something). †to find one's countenance: to assume a certain demeanour.to find in one's heart: see heart n., int., and adv. Phrases 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > behave, conduct, or bear oneself [verb (intransitive)] > behave or make as though
to find one's countenanceOE
to make (a) countenancec1380
to play one's pageanta1425
to play (also act) a (also one's) part1540
the mind > emotion > courage > encouragement > pluck up courage [verb]
findOE
to take (in early use nim) heartc1275
to have the heartc1300
to hent one's heartc1325
to pull upa1393
to fang upa1400
pluckc1400
to take courage1490
to take heart of grace (and variants)c1520
to lift up one's heart, mind, soul1535
to get (also gather, keep, etc.) heart of grace1581
hearten1587
to pluck up one's courage1660
flesh1695
pluck up courage1726
to pick up1735
to call forth1802
to pluck up1827
to muster up1893
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [verb (transitive)] > summon one's resolution
findOE
muster1598
to muster up1628
to call forth1802
to gather up1847
OE Daniel 542 Bæd hine areccan hwæt seo run bude..and in hige funde to gesecganne soðum wordum hwæt se beam bude þe he blican geseah.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 160 Se cyning ða geþafode þam þegne his willan, þeah þe he uneaðe mihte on his mode findan þæt he swa leofne freond fram him lætan sceolde.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 2056 (MED) How mihtest thou thin herte finde..That thou acordest to the slawhte Of him which was thin oghne lord?
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 979 He..tok a lyght and fond his contenaunce As for to loken vp-on an old romaunce.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 324 (MED) He slepte..so savourly, þat þe preste ne non othir myȝt fynde in hire herte to wake him.
1567 J. Sanford tr. Epictetus Man. xiii. 7 If any mischiefe befall vnto thee, thou shalt finde vertue whiche is good and holsome, as against voluptuousnesse, continencie. If laboure be offred thee, thou shalte finde strength: if wrong, pacience.
1639 J. Taylor Divers Crabtree Lect. 32 This Wiseaker could never find the wit to set the saddle on the right horse.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 485. ⁋2 Knife or a pistol, if he finds stomach to apply them.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian viii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 194 Jeanie..could scarce find voice to acquaint him, that she had an order from Baillie Middleburgh.
1895 Granite Monthly June 399/2 She has found courage to lift up her voice.
1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xxii. 227 Archer found the strength to break in: ‘But Madame Olenska—has she gone to Newport too?’.
1992 P. Auster Leviathan (1993) iv. 211 It was impossible to know what had happened, and he never found the courage to ask.
2012 Atlantic Jan. 89/1 If an American president finds the gumption to..force Israel to withdraw from significant portions of the West Bank.
c. transitive. To get or obtain (opportunity, time, etc.) by arrangement or management.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > provide occasion or opportunity [verb (transitive)] > take an opportunity
findOE
employ?1473
sort1592
win1821
OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) xvi. 160 Oportuna uerba procedant ex ore tuo, cum oportunum tempus inueneris : gecoplice word forðstæppan of muþe þinum þænne þu gecoplicne timan findst.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 518 Pandarus..Hadde out of doute a tyme to it founde.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 230 (MED) He fynde maye leyser conuenient Vp-on his purpos platly to procede.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hag. i. A Ye youre selues can fynde tyme to dwell in syled houses.
1581 A. Gilby Pleasaunt Dialogue sig. Fv O ye time takers, & time waiters, which can finde no time to doe well.
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica sig. A3 She findes time at length To shew her office to her Patron-Lord.
1656 A. Cowley Misc. 21 in Poems If we for Happiness could leisure finde.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 76. ⁋3 He would find an Opportunity to take some favourable Notice of him.
1760 H. Walpole Corr. (ed. 3) III. ccclviii. 376 I just found a moment to write you a line.
1794 F. Burney Jrnl. 2 May (1973) III. 59 I cannot comprehend how you find time or strength for what overwhelmed me.., without any family toils, or mind-wearing difficulties.
1806 J. Davis Post-Captain ix. 51 I will put up my sword in the presence of women; but I shall find time and place.
1830 W. Scott Ayrshire Trag. i. 1 The weaver shall find room At the wight-wapping loom.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 466 The volume had not been long in print before the king found time to read it.
1902 ‘Coldstreamer’ Ballads of Boer War vii. 70 If you find a time to suit, Just cop 'im with a ration boot.
1972 Dominion (Wellington) 17 June 26 I've been trying to find space for my notes on a ‘Glossy’.
2014 Radio Times 18 Jan. (South/West ed.) 94/1 Sam..still finds time for romance with an old flame.
14. transitive. To ascertain by calculation or mathematical reasoning; to determine (the solution of a problem).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > calculate or solve [verb (transitive)]
rimeeOE
calcule1377
numbera1382
accounta1387
casta1400
calk1401
computate1449
suppute?a1475
reckona1513
to cast up1539
yield1542
supputate1555
practise?a1560
calculate1570
compute1579
work1582
quantulate1610
resolve1613
find1714
to work out1719
solve1737
to figure out1854
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) i. ii. 34 Ymbe þæra oðra monða rihtinge do þus. Nim þæs ærran monðes dagas and his rihtinga and do tosamne, forðon of þæs ærran monðes dagum and his rihtingum þu scealt findan þæs æftran.
OE On Concurrents (Calig. A.xv) in P. S. Baker & M. Lapidge Byrhtferth's Enchiridion (1995) 429 Of Apriles dagum þu miht findan Maius regulares.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 191 (MED) By þe evenes of þe day and nyȝt in springynge tyme, it may be i-founde which is þe firste oþer þe laste monþe of þe ȝere.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) Prol. 1 Conclusiouns that han ben fownde.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 497 We have fundyne so.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 360v The same is more easely and redely found geometrically by the globes.
1614 R. Handson Questions Navigation 12 in tr. B. Pitiscus Trigonom. I may find the third side, B.D. as was taught according to the plaine Chart, in the former part of this Proposition.
1654 J. Newton Institutio Mathematica i. v. 125 By often doubling and redoubling of that Logarithme so found..in conclusion you shall fall upon the Logarithme of the number given.
1714 W. Whiston Elem. Euclid (ed. 3) iii. i To find the Center of a given Circle [ Billingsley (1570) has To finde out].
1785 C. Hutton Math. Tables 150 To find the log. sine of 1° [etc.].
1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. 141 We find the point B on the second parallel from OY at a certain distance above the fifth parallel from OX.
1879 Math. Questions with their Solutions 31 38 This question took its rise from Col. Clarke's ingenious problem..to find, by a mathematical process, whether a boiled egg is hard or soft.
1914 E. Oberg Arithm. Simplified (‘Machinery’ Ref. Bk. No. 137) i. 6 Subtraction is the process of finding the difference between two numbers.
1959 F. J. Camm Gears (‘Pract. Engin.’ Pocket Bk. No. 5) 3 The blank diameter is found by adding twice the addendum to the diameter of the pitch circle.
2011 P. M. Higgins Numbers: Very Short Introd. iv. 47 It is possible to find the highest common factor (hcf) of two numbers..by successive subtraction.
15. Of a thing.
a. transitive. To reach or arrive at as a destination. Esp. of a weapon or projectile.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach (a point or place) [verb (transitive)] > arrive at > specifically of things
finda1500
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xx. §8. 75 Thi righthand fynd [L. inueniat] all that has the hated.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 463 As the arrowe is directed at the first, so it flyeth.., but it neuer findeth the marke, vnlesse it bee leuelled right in the hand.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. iii. 72 The iron being..guided toward the stone, untill it find the newtrall point wherein its gravity just equalls the magneticall quality. View more context for this quotation
1679 C. Ness Chrystal Mirrour ix. 165 Ahab disguised himself when he went down into the battle, yet Gods Arrow findes him.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Speeches Ajax & Ulysses in Fables 475 He..Did to his Breast the fatal Point apply, It found his Heart, a way till then unknown, Where never Weapon enter'd, but his own.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba II. vii. 67 Yet may a dagger find him.
1818 Morning Post 18 Sept. Venus invented a dart, That should certainly find its soft target, the heart.
1867 M. Arnold Bacchanalia in New Poems 176 That wide plain, now wrapt in gloom, Where many a splendour finds its tomb.
1899 Outing Aug. 523 Playing his second, it also found the bunker.
1949 M. Marquardt Paul Ehrlich ix. 91 The antibodies..are Magic Bullets, which find their target by themselves.
1962 S. Raven Close of Play i. iv. 46 The ball..hit Lionel..just where, years before, a bullet had found him as he fought in Normandy.
2000 B. Broeg 100 Greatest Moments in St. Louis Sports 144/2 The puck banked off one goalpost to the other and found the net.
b. transitive. To obtain as if by effort. So to find expression, ingress, outlet, place, etc. Also occasionally: to have in a specified place.to find vent: see vent n.2 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by care or effort > as if by effort (of things)
find?1544
?1544 E. Allen tr. A. Alesius Auctorite Word of God sig. Biiiiv There is nothing so feble and weake, so that it be true, but it shal find place and be able to stand against all falshode.
1603 M. Drayton Barrons Wars v. lxiv. 119 As yet his breath found passage to and fro, With many a short pant, many a broken word.
1654 R. Vilvain Theoremata Theologica Suppl. 238 Not a tithing part of Mankind can possibly find place to stand on a new Earth.
1748 Biographia Britannica II. 967 His speech ready and intelligible..saying, it was a boyish sport to hunt for words, and argued a penury of matter, which would always find expression for itself.
a1750 A. Hill Poems in Wks. (1753) IV. 119 Bid tears, unwhining, find their source within.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 109 The billow..That far to seaward finds his source.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci v. iv. 102 The only ill which can find place Upon the giddy, sharp and narrow hour Tottering beneath us.
1845 Times 3 Mar. 6/4 It even bears witness to that world-historical spirit which finds its expression in such writers as Michelet.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 696 An opening sufficient to enable the largest vessels to find ingress.
1886 W. D. Howells Indian Summer (1990) ii. 15 They quitted the bridge, and..moved down the street, which with difficulty finds space between the parapet of the river and shops of the mosaicists and dealers in statuary.
1906 A. H. Brooks Geogr. & Geol. Alaska (U. S. Geol. Survey) 50 A number of glaciers also find outlet in the Chilkat itself.
1960 R. Davies Voice from Attic vi. 219 Their sense of humor found vent in an epicene titter.
2009 Church Times 18 Dec. 47/1 The bedrock here is faith in the future, embracing a hope that can find expression in public rituals, beyond the culs-de-sac of celebrity culture.
c. transitive. To come home to, reach the understanding or conscience of; to take hold of.With the use in quot. 2002 cf. to find religion (also Christ, God, Jesus, etc.) at Phrases 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (transitive)] > reach understanding of
conceive1340
grope1390
tellc1390
catchc1475
reacha1500
make1531
to make sense of1574
to make outa1625
apprehend1631
realize1742
finda1834
reify1854
recognize1879
to get (something) straight1920
to pick up1946
to work out1953
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Confess. Enquiring Spirit (1840) i. 10 Whatever finds me, bears witness for itself that it has proceeded from a Holy Spirit.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. 31 As long as his new casting so fails more fully to commend itself, more fully (to use Coleridge's happy phrase about the Bible) to find us.
1891 Drummond in Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 7/2 The books of which I have been speaking found me and taught me.
1915 E. G. Ives Evol. Teacher i. 4 Ours was a reading family and books found me early.
1992 A. Maupin Maybe the Moon iv. 66 If sex with a little person was kinky by its very definition, I had choice but to embrace kink when it found me.
2002 J. Toth What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? ii. 85 When she took in young Johnnie Sr., she only knew her family's example. And later, ‘when religion found me’, she says, she had no choice but to live by her beliefs.
16. transitive. regional (chiefly Scottish). To examine by touching; to feel with the fingers. Also intransitive.In quots. 1719 and 1826 specifically of examining a patient's pulse. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) adds ‘sometimes in an indecent sense’ (cf. quot. 1787) and records this specific sense as still in use in Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Fife, Berwickshire, and Argyllshire in 1945.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > examine medically [verb (transitive)] > by touch > specific part or using specific instrument
find1719
cystoscope1889
gastroscope1937
sigmoidoscope1966
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > blindly or as in dark
find1892
1719 G. Lockhart Let. 28 Mar. (1989) 129 I have had occasion and been at some pains to find the merchants' pulses.
1782 J. Sinclair Observ. Sc. Dial. ii. 84 I am much hurt, find where it pains me.
1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 57 I pried her mou' an' thumt her chin, But laigher down did never fin'.
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 39/2 Only find them, man—tak haud o' them—dinna be feared.
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxvi, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 749 You wad hae fann a pulse wi' a true Esculawpian solemnity.
1877 J. M. Neilson Poems 51 Her ladyship fan' roun' the back o' his heid.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words at Fin It's that dark, aa'll he' to fin' for the sneck.
1916 J. Fergus Sodger 30 An' fin' whaurever I gang, for I'm blin' frae the war, I'm blin'.
III. To provide.
17. transitive. To procure for a person's use; to supply, provide, furnish. With material or (occasionally) immaterial object. Frequently with for: to provide (something) for someone. Also with direct and indirect object. Now rare or understood as a contextual use of sense 9a(a). See also Phrases 7.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)]
affordOE
findOE
purveyc1300
chevise1340
ministera1382
upholda1417
supply1456
suppeditate1535
perfurnishc1540
previse1543
subminister1576
tend1578
fourd1581
instaurate1583
to find out1600
suffice1626
subministrate1633
affurnisha1641
apply1747
to stump up1833
to lay on1845
to come up with1858
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xxxviii. 247 Beon þam seocan wununga fundene [L. deputate] gesceadwislice and endebyrdlice and wurðlice and þæslice, þær hi beon magon.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Martin abbot..fand þe munekes & te gestes al þat heom behoued & heold mycel carited in the hus.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 215 Wi sholdest þu þis finden þe noht ne fost þerof.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1627 Heo him wolden finden hauekes & hundes.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6016 Þat euere eiȝte hide lond an man hym ssolde finde.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1555 And euere more..Eterne fyr I wol bifore thee fynde.
c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 82 He wolde that..here herkeners..founden hem here vitailes.
1544 Act 35 Henry VIII c. 11 §2 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 970 Boroughes..not fyndinge Burgeses for the Parliament.
1563 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 167 My thre natural sonns..shalbe fownden meate and drynke.
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 152 No more then every horseman [is accounted] a rider, or able to finde himselfe armour.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 307 For every plough every man should finde two compleat horses.
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. ii. 95 Honor is like that glassy Bubble That finds Philosophers such trouble.
1712 J. Arbuthnot Law is Bottomless-pit iii. 7 You must find sufficient Security to us, our Heirs and Assigns, that you will not employ Lewis Baboon.
1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) III. iv. 145 The subscription was but ten shillings a year: Britton found the instruments.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlix. 184 The perpetration..of new crimes will find employment for us both.
1814 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 122 The hotels do not find breakfast.
1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 574 The forms of constitutional government they could bestow, but they could not find the traditions and the habits by which the forms were worked.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. App. 647 The government..required each county to find its quota of ships.
1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 13 June 751/1 Egotism finds a balm for every wound of non-achievement.
1987 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 Feb. 14/2 They made much of gift exchanges because hospitality affirmed social position. Hence Chaplin took his turn at ‘finding’ dinner for the Agricultural Society.
18.
a. transitive. To support, maintain, provide for (a person). Formerly also: †to provide for the maintenance of (an institution, a light or lamp in a church, etc.) (obsolete rare). to find in: to supply with. †to find to school: to maintain at school (obsolete). Now rare (historical and regional). [Apparently < sense 17 by conversion of indirect into direct object.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide means of support for
findc1225
sustainc1300
found1377
keep1377
maintainc1405
sustent?a1425
support1493
uphold1546
subsist1547
escota1616
fend1637
aliment1660
run1871
grub-stake1879
society > education > [verb (transitive)] > put to education > send to school > maintain at school
to find to schoolc1225
put1870
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything
feather?c1225
serve?c1225
astore1297
purveya1325
purveyc1325
warnishc1330
supply1384
bego1393
garnish?a1400
stuff14..
instore1432
relievec1480
providec1485
appurvey1487
support?1507
furnishc1515
repair1518
supply1529
speed1531
help (a person) to (also with)1569
sort1598
suffice1600
enduea1616
starta1640
employ1690
find1713
to fix out1725
issue1737
service1969
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 46 (MED) Hwase..findeð in ham liht oðer lamp.
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 219 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 113 Ake is fader him nolde finde.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 40 Þei shullen meynten and fynden a light in þe same chirche in honor of þe selue seynt Austyn.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 74 (MED) To fynden a Preste to syngen atte autere of Seint George.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vi. l. 36 My frendes founden me to scole.
1438 in W. Fraser Lennox (1874) II. 69 The forsayd Alexander sall find his dochter for fyff yher with..hyr husband and hys famil.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 322 Nane..Wald do sa mekill for him yat he Mycht sufficiantly fundyn be.
1528 J. Skelton Honorificatissimo: Replycacion agaynst Yong Scolers sig. Av Ten pounde Therewith for to be founde At the Unyuersyte.
1577 R. Willes & R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Hist. Trauayle W. & E. Indies f. 243v Condemned persons..are found by the king as long as they do liue.
1651 T. Ireland Exact Abridgm. Rep. Sir J. Dyer 184 A demise made..to the Master and fellows of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge for to find Grammar Schools and poore Schollars.
1660 J. Herne Law Charitable Uses 91 Doctor Floyd seised of Lands in Capite, Deviseth them to Jesus Colledge in Oxford, and their Successors, to find a Fellow there, which should be of his blood and alliance.
1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 18 May 1/2 The King of Sweden finds me in clean Linnen.
a1797 E. Burke Thoughts on Scarcity (1800) 10 Unless the labourer is well fed, and otherwise found with such necessaries of animal life.
1830 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Jan. 160 Decline finding paupers in venison.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xii. 107 An annual salary of five pounds..and ‘found’ in food and lodging.
1857 R. Tomes Americans in Japan viii. 183 Boatmen's wages are from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-quarter dollars per month, when found.
a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) xxxiv. 150 Paying him handsomely as well as finding him in tools and materials.
1931 A. P. Wadsworth & J. De Lacy Mann Cotton Trade & Industr. Lancs. xvii. 338 His brother found him in food, loging and clothes.
1944 Z. N. Hurston Let. 1 Oct. in Life in Lett. (2002) 507 Naturally, I must ‘find’ the ship. That is, stock her with provisions.
1964 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 175/1 The sports find us in food.
1978 Nation (Bridgetown) 17 Mar. (Pelican Mag.) 11 We had a noise over it, and so we broke up. He still finds the children though.
1991 Dance Res. 9 15 Whether a master ‘found’ for his apprentices or expected them to house, feed, and clothe themselves varied from man to man.
†b. transitive (reflexive). To provide for one's own living or needs. Obsolete.In quot. a1626 in extended use, of a war.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply [verb (reflexive)] > provide for one's own needs
sustain?c1335
chevise1362
findc1405
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 9 She foond hir self.
1466 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 346 Item, to ij. fellers of tymbre, and to fynde them selffes, viij.d.
c1560 T. Becon Relikes of Rome sig. P.i Suche poore..as haue not wherof to fynde them selues.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. iv. 76 b They have..4 Aspres of pension by the day, but upon that they must fynde themselves.
a1626 F. Bacon Considerations Warre with Spaine in Certaine Misc. Workes (1629) 73 The Warre in continuance will finde it selfe.
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xxxiii. 133 A certain pay to find himself withal, and to live upon.
1754 H. Fielding Voy. Lisbon in Wks. (1882) VII. 99 It was expected the passengers should find themselves in several things.
1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. vi. 105 They..found themselves, as fowls can always do when they have a great range of ground to go over.
1853 W. J. Wills Successful Explor. Interior Austral. (1863) 18 We preferred the Immigrant's Home, a government affair, just fitted up for the accommodation of new-comers, where you pay a shilling a night, and find yourself.
†c. transitive. To serve to maintain. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (transitive)] > sustain life
sustainc1330
lead?a1366
finda1450
sustentate1542
breast1573
subsist1612
to keep body (life) and soul togethera1616
preserve1694
to eke out1825
a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Claud.) (2009) 14 Þat corn..was of so gret plente..þat hyt fond alle þe pepul to eton and to sowen ynoȝgh to ȝere aftur.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng iii. f. 2v It is to be enquered..what maner of beestes or catell it [the medowe] is most necessary vnto, and howe many it wyll fynde.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 454 He gaue to euery citizen as much wheate as would finde him three moneths.
1609 Pimlyco sig. D2v You Apron-men, that weekely get By your hard labour and your sweat, Siluer (earn'd deare, but honestly) Enough to find your Family.
1632 A. Steynings Let. in B. Cusack Everyday Eng. 1500–1700 (1998) 214 All things are att such a dearth in our Leager that the states meanes is not able to find vs halfe the weeke.
†d. intransitive. At Harrow School: to have meals together. Cf. find n. 4. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating in specific conditions > eat in specific conditions [verb (intransitive)] > eat in own rooms
find1889
to eat in1931
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating in specific conditions > [noun] > eating in company > group eating together > in school
find1862
find1889
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 362/2 To find, to mess together.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill x. 218 You will find together. Of course Scaife can find with you, if you wish. [Note] ‘Finding’ is the privilege, accorded to the Sixth Form, of having breakfast and tea served in their own rooms instead of in Hall.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xi. 244 They no longer shared No. 7..but they still ‘found’ together.

Phrases

P1. to find one's legs. Cf. to find one's feet at Phrases 3.
†a. To stand up; to begin to walk, run, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > begin to
to make a step1532
to find one's legs1571
1571 J. Northbrooke Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Breefe Summe Christian Faith xxj. f. 68 They shoulde..make him to finde his legges, or winges, for to be out of their reache.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 ii. i. 150 We must haue you finde your legges. Sirrha Beadle, whip him till he leape ouer that same stoole.
1653 J. Davies tr. C. Sorel Extravagant Shepherd v. 137 Carmelin was in the dance, wherein there was required such activity as made him glad to find his legs.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 238 My Lady..took my Hand, and said, Find your Legs, Miss, if you please. I stood up.
1792 R. Heron tr. D. Chavis & M. Cazotte Arabian Tales II. 304 Karaamek would have fled to an hundred leagues' distance, if he could have found his legs.
1839 Mag. Nat. Hist. 3 404 Both horse and rider found their legs again, without having sustained any serious damage.
b. To become able to stand, walk, run, etc. Cf. to find one's sea legs at sea legs n.
ΚΠ
1897 Zoologist 1 114 They [sc. newly-hatched chicks] do not seem to have much consciousness for about the first twenty-four hours, but when once they have found their legs they soon become exceedingly wild unless handled.
1942 T. D. Clark Kentucky xvi. 257 The fertile land which sprawled out for a mile behind it was as noble a place for a thoroughbred to find his legs as there was in America.
1990 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 25 Oct. 10 An amphibian finds its legs when it emerges from water.
2004 W. B. McCloskey Raiders ii. xiv. 187 He's used to ships, but he's been ashore for years. He'll find his legs.
P2. to find one's way.
a. To make out one's way by observation or inquiry; to contrive to reach one's destination.In quots. eOE, ?c1225, and a1393 showing † to find way, † to find a way in similar use. In quot. a1325 probably with the meaning ‘to locate one's path’, and not showing a fixed phrase.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > arrival > arrive [verb (intransitive)] > not as a matter of course
to find one's way?a1425
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach a point or place [verb (intransitive)] > arrive > not as a matter of course
to find one's way?a1425
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xx. 473 Ac ic wolde giet sumre bisne þe behwerfan utan þæt þu ne meaht nænne weg findan ofer.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 54 Þe feont..ifond wei towart hire forlorennesse.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3246 xii. weiges ðer-in..Ðat euerilc kinde of israel Mai ðor his weige finden wel.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 3153 (MED) If thou wolt finde a siker weie To love, put Envie aweie.]
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 178 (MED) How þat þei schull fynden hire weye.
1578 M. Tyler tr. D. Ortúñez de Calahorra Mirrour Princely Deedes xxviii. f. 69v He strayed so long not finding his way that the Sunne was set ere he knew how to get out.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. i. 101 Hee seem'd to find his way without his eyes, For out adoores he went..And to the last bended their light on me. View more context for this quotation
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica xv. sig. Kk6 Strip their bright Swords, by whose quicke glimering light, They find their way.
1748 D. Hume Let. 8 May (1932) I. 131 We are still amongst Mountains, & follow the Tract of Rivers in order to find our Way.
1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. iv. 64 Could you find your way home?
1901 Scotsman 5 Nov. 6/8 The fog lifted a little and the immense array of stranded omnibuses and vans would be able to find their way home.
2005 Cosmopolitan Aug. 80/3 It's dangerous to get so hammered that you can't find your way home.
b. Of a person or thing: to go or be brought to a place in spite of difficulties, or not quite as a matter of course.
ΚΠ
1746 J. Hervey Medit. among Tombs 73 That fatal Javelin..finds its Way to the Hearts of all the Sons of Adam.
1803 J. Bristed Ανθρωπλανομενος II. 655 Her cousins..had been bankrupted..and had found their way up to London.
1827 Examiner 16 Dec. 792/2 English corn is finding its way into Holland.
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. 11 A weak and sluggish river, which..scarcely finds its way to the sea.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 340 Notions which have found their way into the drama.
1987 R. S. Brindle New Music (ed. 2) xv. 159 A large number of Latin-American instruments have found their way into serious music.
2015 Guardian 19 Aug. (G2 section) 5/1 Trigger warnings have begun finding their way into academia.
P3. to find one's feet and variants: to be able to stand, gain one's footing; (figurative) to become conscious of or develop one's powers, become able to operate effectively. Cf. feel v. Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of standing up or rising > rise or be standing [verb (intransitive)] > be able to stand
to find one's feeta1535
to find one's feeta1535
the world > action or operation > ability > be able to [verb (intransitive)] > be conscious of or develop one's powers
to feel one's feet (also legs, wings)1579
to find one's feet1977
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxiiii. sig. D.vii The bitche had found the fote agayn, & on she came yerning.
1591 A. Fraunce Countesse of Pembrokes Yuychurch ii. xii. sig. M3v When hee fynds his feete, and gyns by the boate to be creeping, One legg's tyde to a cord, for feare of a fall or a ducking.
1653 G. Wither Westrow Revived ii. 28 As a Lover , thinking (in a dream) He hears his best Beloued calling him, Starts up in hast, and runneth out to meet The voice that cals him, ere he find his feet.
1673 B. Makin Ess. to revive Antient Educ. Gentlewomen 26 Children..when they find their own feet, will not abide the tedium of a School.
1704 W. M. Female Wits ii. 33 Oh Isabella! Where art thou! I loose my way in Tears, and cannot find my Feet.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xlv. 315 She then found her feet—O house..contrived on purpose for my ruin! said she.
1826 A. Cunningham Paul Jones I. ix. 272 As soon as the horse found his feet, Paul threw the bridle over the neck.
1868 ‘H. Lee’ Basil Godfrey's Caprice ii. 8 Olive was just beginning to find her feet.
1904 Sporting News (Launceston, Tasmania) 2 Jan. 3/1 A three year old colt by Pilgrim's Progress from Nellie, was thought to be a sweet thing, but he failed to find his feet.
1977 Irish Press 29 Sept. 12/6 The Irish shoe industry, after being on the skids for six years, may be finding its feet again.
2014 Guardian 18 Jan. (Guide Suppl.) 30 (heading) As the next-gen consoles find their feet, Nick Gillett takes a look at their cheaper, stranger and quirkier rivals from the world of mobile gaming.
†P4. to know where to find a person and variants: to be able to make out a person's meaning or intentions. Similarly where may we find you?.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [phrase]
to know what's whatc1422
to know where to find a person1565
to see the light1812
to be awake to1813
to know a move or two1819
to get on to ——1880
to get the strength of1890
to be (or get) wise to1896
to get the picture1900
the penny dropped1939
to pick up1944
to get the message1959
to take on board1979
1565 J. Rastell Replie Def. Truth ii. 17 You would haue some libertie to hyde your selfe vnder ambiguities, and thereby to troble your aduersarie, when he shold not know where to find you.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 153 Set downe your mynde whereunto you will stand, that we may know once where we may finde you.
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 147 Whereby father Parsons and his adherents did so square their actions, as neuer..any man liuing can tell where to find them.
a1627 W. Sclater Expos. 4th Chapter Rom. (1650) 25 Versipelles! Where may we finde you?
1832 Essayist Mar. 82 You never request the sun to stand still. Very well: but where may we find you on a hot summer's or a cold winter's day.
1856 J. H. Newman Callista 61 He did not understand his nephew, or (to use a common phrase) know where to find him.
P5. how do you find yourself?: how are you? Now humorous. [Compare French comment vous trouvez vous (mid 17th cent. or earlier), German wie befinden sie sich?]
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > courteous formulae [phrase] > terms of greeting
God give you good dayc1275
hail be thou (also ye)c1275
pax vobisc1275
how do ye?1570
(good, fair) time of day (to you)1597
how goes it?1598
I salute youa1616
savea1616
how do you find yourself?a1646
how-do-you-do1697
how do?1886
how are you popping (up)?1894
how's (less frequently how are) tricks?1915
how's (or how are) things (or, originally Australia and New Zealand, tricks?)1926
how's life?1931
a1646 J. Burroughs Gospel-reconciliation (1657) lxxii. sig. Tt Pray then speak plainly, how do you find your self? is it not better now than it was before?
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables xcv. 89 Pray, Sir, How d'ye Find your self?
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 227 Well, Child, said she, sneeringly, how dost find thyself?
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. xii. 180 Tell me how you find yourself.
1840 F. Marryat Olla Podrida I. iii. 22 ‘And how does..Maria find herself?’.. At last there was a reply. ‘Oh! tol, lol!’
1866 All Year Round 20 Jan. 40/1 Well, old Buttertub, and 'ow do you find yourself?
1912 Secret Service 19 Apr. 5/1 Well, Mrs. Walsh, and how do you find yourself to-day, madam?
2014 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 21 Sept. (New Review) 3 ‘Good day to you, Laura’, he will boom, as he advances on the counter. ‘And how do you find yourself this fine morning?’
P6. to find religion (also Christ, God, Jesus, etc.) (and similar phrases): (chiefly among Protestants) to experience conversion to the Christian faith.Cf. earlier use (not as a fixed phrase) in quot. a1626 at sense 9b.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > preaching > conversion > convert [verb (intransitive)]
turnc1225
converta1400
to come through1708
to get religion1772
to see the light1812
to experience religion1837
vert1888
to find religion (also Christ, God, Jesus, etc.)1957
1798 Universalist's Misc. Mar. 67 Being asked if he felt his pains so great since he had found Christ? he answered, ‘No, he felt no pains now.’
1805 G. Douglass Anecd. Singular & Remarkable Conversions 6 About the middle of the sermon she exclaimed ‘glory be to God, I have found the Lord’; which she repeated over and over, being filled with joy unspeakable.
1825 Mem. Life Harriet Dow 7 Do you think..you are too young? if you do, look on me, I am younger than you, and I trust that I have found religion.
1864 E. G. White Testimonies for Church (1871) I. 18 Dear child, have you found Jesus?
1877 Independent 4 Jan. 11/3 He said that at least 200 boys had found Jesus in the Tabernacle.
1932 H. J. Laski Let. 21 Aug. in Holmes-Laski Lett. (1953) II. 1402 He..asked me in a loud voice..if I had found Christ. I said that I was..exempt from religious experience.
1957 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation i. 22 If..we have in any true sense of the phrase, ‘found religion’, it means that we shall have so organised our minds that, for flashes at least, we attain to a sense of interpenetration with the reality around us.
1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 21 July a3/2 The groups say the anticult forces are curtailing their religious freedom. Students have the right to make their own decisions, they say, and people who have found God should be able to tell others about it.
2008 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 7 Jan. 10/1 (headline) With a mid-race epiphany, Michael closes his eyes and finds Jesus.
P7. In past participle, chiefly with regard to conditions of employment.
a. Chiefly U.S. and found: and with customary items of food, etc., provided.
ΚΠ
1826 R. Mills Statistics S. Carolina 509 The price of labor of field hands is from eighty to one hundred and twenty dollars a year and found.
1832 Emigrant's Guide 95 The wages being only 11 dollars per month and found, I continued but one month there.
1853 B. F. Taylor January & June (1871) 273 A story..he wouldn't have whispered for twelve dollars a month ‘and found’.
1923 ‘B. M. Bower’ Parowan Bonanza iv. 48 I got him cheap for yuh. Three dollars and found.
1975 J. Gould Maine Lingo 100 A waitress will be paid so much a week and found.
b. all found: with all customary items of food, etc., provided.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [adjective] > provided or supplied with something > with everything provided
found1758
all found1884
all in1930
1839 M. Chevalier Society, Manners & Politics in U.S. xx. 218 You go from Pittsburg to New Orleans for 50 dollars, all found, and from Louisville to New Orleans for 25 dollars.
1884 Punch 8 Mar. 118/2 Wages £18, all found but beer.
1953 R. Postgate Ledger is Kept (1958) 59 At the age of sixteen she had got a job in the big grocery stores, Lewis & Morgan, as an assistant, fifteen shillings a week, all found and live in.
1992 D. Glazer Last Oasis 7 It's the chance of a lifetime and we don't have to pay anything—all found—can you imagine, Jay?
2013 Ireland's Own 12 Apr. 55/1 These maids..were mostly paid a small weekly wage, hired at so much per week, ‘all found’. This included their keep, uniforms and social welfare.
P8. to find one's level: see level n. 3b. to find (the) means: see mean n.3 3b. safe bind (and) safe find: see safe adj. Phrases 5.

Phrasal verbs

With adverbs.† to find forth
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To discover by attention, scrutiny, study, etc.; = to find out 2 at Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > find out by investigation [verb (transitive)] > by study or observation
findOE
to find outc1405
investigate?1495
to find forth?a1500
spell1587
research1588
rifle1614
excudate1831
work1840
approfound1885
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2381 in Poems (1981) 89 At the last he findis furth ane wyle.
1577 I. T. in tr. H. Bullinger Serm. Lordes Supper sig. A.iiij.v And that the diligent Readers, if it shal please them to conferre the Testimonies with the Text, may the more easily find forth the same, I haue quoted in the Margent both chapter and verse, whence they are taken.
1616 J. Deacon Tobacco Tortured 3 Hauing searched all the corners of his diuine wit, to find forth some reason in nature concerning this matter.
1671 J. Webster Metallographia xxviii. 341 The Female and Male are here both joined together as Iron and Steel; and these are not beaten forth, but remain as they are of themselves, until that Art do find forth the separation of them.
2. transitive. To discover by searching or inquiry; = to find out 1 at Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > by searching or tracking down
findOE
track1565
to start up1566
explore1592
to find forth1601
tracea1913
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > find by enquiry
speer1390
to find forth1601
1601 T. Wright Passions of Minde xxi. 228 Marke but a Lambe almost new yeaned, how it will finde foorth the mothers dugge.
1653 E. Bower Dr. Lamb Revived 19 The Maid did wish for my company, and did desire, if any knew me, to finde me forth if they could, and perswade me to come to her.
 to find out [compare out-find v.]
†1. transitive. To come upon by searching or inquiry; to discover (something hidden). Also in extended use. Cf. sense 9a(a). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]
findOE
yfindOE
hita1075
befindc1200
out-findc1300
to try outc1325
to find outa1375
to find upc1390
ascryc1400
outwryc1400
inventc1475
vent1611
to hit off1680
discover1762
to scare up1846
to pick up1869
rumble1897
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2090 (MED) Ȝif þei found out þat freke..to bring him bliue bounde fast him to-fore.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. l. 4257 Of riche myneris thei serche the entrailles, To fynde out metallis for worldli auauntages.
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 851 The noble Pamphila..Habillimentis royall founde out industriously.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Iv They..do searche narrowly..and..at length fynde out the mine.
1611 Bible (King James) Job xi. 7 Canst thou by searching finde out God? View more context for this quotation
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 2 The..Labour, which Men take in finding out of Truth.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 217 (heading) A..proofe that Madoc ap Owen Gwynedd first found out that continent now call'd America.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 308. ⁋5 I was very much surprized..that any one should find out my Lodging.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. vii. 50 As she is a Woman of very great Note, I shall easily find her out . View more context for this quotation
1794 W. Blake Sick Rose in Songs Exper. 2 O rose,..The invisible worm..Has found out thy bed.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary xxiv Whenever Misticot's grave was fund out, the estate..should be lost.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiogr. (ed. 2) 135 The water soon finds out some slight inequalities of surface.
2.
†a. transitive. To discover by attention, scrutiny, study, etc.; to solve, explain. Also: to devise, invent. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)]
seeOE
fanda1000
finda1200
kenc1330
lenda1350
agropea1393
contrive1393
to find outc1405
outsearch?a1439
ripec1440
inventc1475
disclose?a1500
fish1531
agnize?1570
discover1585
to grope out1590
out-find1590
expiscate1598
vent1611
to learn out1629
to get to know1643
develop1653
ascertain1794
stag1796
root1866
to get a line on1903
establish1919
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)]
findeOE
conceive1340
seek1340
brewc1386
divine1393
to find outc1405
to search outc1425
to find up?c1430
forgec1430
upfindc1440
commentc1450
to dream out1533
inventa1538
father1548
spina1575
coin1580
conceit1591
mint1593
spawn1594
cook1599
infantize1619
fabulize1633
notionate1645
to make upc1650
to spin outa1651
to cook up1655
to strike out1735
mother1788
to think up1855
to noodle out1950
gin1980
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > find out by investigation [verb (transitive)] > by study or observation
findOE
to find outc1405
investigate?1495
to find forth?a1500
spell1587
research1588
rifle1614
excudate1831
work1840
approfound1885
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 883 What sleighte is it..That he nel fynde it out in som manere.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 6191 (MED) For he fonde oute þe cause of euerydel.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Finde out by studye, excudo.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 637 Iohannes Fauscius..first found out the noble science of Imprintyng.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Chron. ii. 14 A man of Tyre, skilfull to..find out euery deuice which shall be put to him. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 406 Who shall..through the palpable obscure find out His uncouth way. View more context for this quotation
1676 P. Cust Jrnl. in E. Cust Rec. Cust Family (1898) xiii. 342 This is he who may claime a smal share with Dr. Harvey who added somethinge towards the findinge out the circulatione of the blood.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 543. ¶1 Since the Circulation of the Blood has been found out.
1765 J. Harris Three Treat. (ed. 2) Notes 363 They turned their Eyes to Matters Political, and found out Laws.
1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxix. 347 He [sc. Quacy] had the good fortune, in 1730, to find out the valuable root known by the name of Quaciæ bitter, of which he was actually the first discoverer.
1823 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 9 Aug. 352 You are pestered to death to find out the way to..get from place to place.
1861 tr. A. Rodríguez Pract. Christian & Relig. Perfection II. iv. xvii. 319 He triumphed also over Sampson by means of Dalila, and thus found out the sense of the riddle, and the source of his strength.
b. transitive. To discover (a fact, some information, etc.). Frequently with interrogative clause or that-clause.
ΚΠ
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 987 He fonde out wel, by reknyng of his lif, That she was both his moder and his wif.
1532 T. More Confutacyon Tyndales Answere i. p. x They haue with longe serche founden oute at laste, that monkes, freres, and nunnes, be not bounden by that commaundement at all.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. ii. sig. N6 But Talus..At length found out, whereas she hidden lay. View more context for this quotation
1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater ii. i. sig. C3v We shall find out the truth more easilie, Some other way lesse noted.
1640 in R. Baillie Lett. & Jrnls. (1841) II. 468 Finding out how that, by the particular and indirect practiking of the few, the Country, and Cause now depending, does so much suffer, [etc.].
1654 J. C. Independants Catech. (ed. 2) 4 But is it possible to find out the time of his destruction?
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV 179 To find out what Laws are best and most commodous.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 142. ⁋1 She had now found out, that it was Day before Nine in the Morning.
1790 W. Cowper Let. 31 July (1982) III. 401 Though I have seen you but once,..I have found out that you are a scatter-brain.
1844 Bibliotheca Sacra Nov. 727 The style which incites the student to find out the truth for himself.
1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 38 It aims..at finding out how they may be really united.
1920 M. Mitchell Let. 13 July in Lett. to A. Edee (1985) 100 Find out the price and wire me, toot sweet?
1941 H. L. Mencken Diary 17 July (1989) 155 The pretense that he wanted to find out the truth about the English situation.
1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus ii. x. 228 The ideal way to find out what was going on inside the White House was to approach it from the outside.
2012 J. Edwards Earth Girl ii. 19 I nearly gave up when I found out all Military kids were trained in unarmed combat.
c. intransitive. To make a discovery; to discover a fact, the truth, etc. Also with about.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out or come to know [verb (intransitive)]
seec1384
to find out1782
jerry1917
to take a jerry (to)1919
1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. ii. iii. 206 I can't conceive who he is; nobody can find out.
1821 N.Y. City-Hall Recorder Aug. 60/2 It seems that the prisoner sent a Mr. Shelton there to find out about Blair, who had previously been arrested.
1862 G. MacDonald David Elginbrod ii. ii ‘I don't like the pigs—I don't know where they are.’ ‘Well, we must find out.’
1893 M. E. Mann In Summer Shade xix ‘He has found out about Mrs. Le Grice's bill,’ said Lally to herself.
1913 W. M. Gallichan Like Stars that Fall xi Supposing your husband found out? There might be a devil of a row.
1971 A. Price Alamut Ambush xii. 151 I still don't quite know what makes Razzak tick. You were going to find out about him.
2005 L. Randall Warped Passages 8 The most exciting feature of any extra-dimensional theory that explains the weakness of gravity is that if it is correct, we will soon find out.
†3. transitive. To obtain (gold or other metal) in pure form by refining. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1533 T. Elyot Of Knowl. Wise Man iv. f. 76v To dygge vp the Oore, and after cesseth not to trye it from the stones, and with contynual trauayle to fynde out the pure gold.
a1658 O. Sedgwick Anat. Secret Sins (1660) v. 212 A Goldsmith will not cast away those lesser raies of gold, though mingled, and (to an inexpert person) confounded with various heaps of drosse and dust: now, he hath an art to find out the little gold, and put aside the drosse.
4. transitive. To detect (someone) in an offence; to detect, discover (a fraud, etc.); to penetrate the disguise of, discover the identity or true character of. Cf. 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > detect > detect (in) an imposture
to see through ——a1450
to find out1545
detect1581
spot1880
tumble1901
rumble1912
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > detect > detect (a person) in wrongdoing or predicament
finda1200
overtakea1325
takec1330
oftakea1382
overgoa1400
deprehenda1535
reprehend1538
to find out1545
surprise?1592
nail1766
pawl1859
bust1960
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > detect
seec1300
perceivec1330
deprehend1523
read1561
wind1583
savour1602
subodorate1606
smoke1608
detect1756
to find out1883
1545 J. Bale Mysterye Inyquyte P. Pantolabus f. 28v Is he not founde out for an vngracyouse teacher.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 84 He is good in finding out false play or adulterie done.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 100 If we be not altogether ignorant of our selves, and wilfully blinde,..we can not choose but start and finde out a flatterer.
1650 ‘H. Magomastix’ Strange Witch at Greenwich 8 I think its as hard to finde her out in any Witchcrafts, as to finde out these minotaures, Caniballs and Cormorants.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 51. ⁋7 If at the Catastrophe he were found out for a Traitor.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxiv. 65 Pray don't reveal yourself till he finds you out.
a1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1857) 3rd Ser. viii. 108 When once a man has found himself out he cannot be deceived again.
1883 Stubbs' Mercantile Circular 8 Nov. 982/2 The worthlessness of..clayed cottons is now being found out by the consumer.
1914 J. Conrad Let. 28 Jan. (1956) 244 I suppose I must put up with being found out in my innocent malpractices.
1954 M. Connolly Mr. Blue (new ed.) v. 75 It is because most of us are such poseurs to ourselves that we so readily find a poseur out.
2009 Independent 26 May 29/2 For which they will not be condemned, other than by public opinion should they be found out.
†5. transitive. Of a letter: to reach (a person); = sense 9e. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > sending items > send items [verb (transitive)] > reach a person (of letter)
to find out1583
1583 Answeare Def. Censure Charkes Bk. sig. K3v It may bee a meane in good pollicie, to cause them to bee streightlier looked vnto heereafter, and your selfe to be sought out, seeing their letters can finde you out.
1605 T. Matthew Let. 29 May in A. H. Mathew & A. Calthrop Life Sir T. Matthew (1907) iii. 45 I hope you will acquaint me with your mind, by letter, wch wth direction at Signore Thomaso Yonge,..will find me out.
†6. transitive. To provide, supply. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)]
affordOE
findOE
purveyc1300
chevise1340
ministera1382
upholda1417
supply1456
suppeditate1535
perfurnishc1540
previse1543
subminister1576
tend1578
fourd1581
instaurate1583
to find out1600
suffice1626
subministrate1633
affurnisha1641
apply1747
to stump up1833
to lay on1845
to come up with1858
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. ii. 45 Finde you out a bedde: For I, vpon this banke, will rest my head. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. vi. 11 Come I haue found you out a stand most fit, Where you may haue such vantage on the Duke He shall not passe you. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Bonduca i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ggggv/1 He'll finde you out a food that needs no teeth nor stomack.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 304 It was not possible for them to find out funds for so great an expence.
 to find up
1. transitive. To discover by search. Now chiefly English regional (East Anglian).Said to be ‘a Norfolkism’ by W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) II. 135 (cf. quot. 1799) and to be ‘in everyday use’ in east Suffolk by F. Hall in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 359/2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]
findOE
yfindOE
hita1075
befindc1200
out-findc1300
to try outc1325
to find outa1375
to find upc1390
ascryc1400
outwryc1400
inventc1475
vent1611
to hit off1680
discover1762
to scare up1846
to pick up1869
rumble1897
c1390 Charter Abbey Holy Ghost (Laud) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 351 I schal also, he seiþ, fynden vp þe abbesse of þe holy gost & maken aȝeyn here couent & here place, betere þan euere it was.
c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 3759 (MED) This dramme fonden vp, was sho noght littelle gladde & myrye.
1694 L. Echard tr. Plautus Epidicus ii. iii. in tr. Plautus Comedies 99 Th' old Man order'd me this Morning to find up a Musick-Girl to sing for him at his Sacrifice.
1799 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 260 You have a mind..to find up ‘More Reliques of Rowley’.
1817 W. Taylor Monthly Mag. XLIV. 314 Jerom..found-up a Hebrew original of the first book of Maccabees.
1832 H. Martineau For Each & All vii. 96 I am going into the depths of the city to find up a money lender.
1894 Norfolk Daily Standard in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 359/2 I hope he will be found up and brought speedily to light.
1943 L. R. Haggard & H. Williamson Norfolk Life 29 He could not ‘find up’ a couple of taps needed, and had to buy them.
†2. transitive. To contrive, invent; = sense 11. Obsolete.Cf. quot. ?a14391 at finder n. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)]
findeOE
conceive1340
seek1340
brewc1386
divine1393
to find outc1405
to search outc1425
to find up?c1430
forgec1430
upfindc1440
commentc1450
to dream out1533
inventa1538
father1548
spina1575
coin1580
conceit1591
mint1593
spawn1594
cook1599
infantize1619
fabulize1633
notionate1645
to make upc1650
to spin outa1651
to cook up1655
to strike out1735
mother1788
to think up1855
to noodle out1950
gin1980
?c1430 J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 279 Tradicions founden vp of synful wrecchis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1776v.eOE
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