Meaning of find in English

find

verb

/faɪnd/ uk

/faɪnd/

found | found

find verb (DISCOVER)

to discover, especially where a thing or person is, either unexpectedly or by searching, or to discover where to get or how to achieve something:

I've just found a ten-dollar bill in my pocket.

I couldn't find Andrew's phone number.

You'll find the knives and forks in the left-hand drawer.

Researchers are hoping to find a cure for the disease.

[ + two objects ] Has he found himself a place to live yet?

[ + obj + adj ] She was found unconscious and bleeding.

[ + that ] The study found that men who were married lived longer than those who were not.

Do you think they'll ever find a way of bringing peace to the region?

We're really struggling to find (= get) enough money to pay the rent.

After years of abuse from her husband, she eventually found the courage to leave him.

I wish I could find (the) time to do more reading.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to find someone or something

findI've looked everywhere for my keys but can't find them.
discoverThe missing wallet was discovered under the chair.
locatePolice are still trying to locate the suspect.
uncoverReporters uncovered evidence of corruption.
unearthOur investigation unearthed mountains of evidence that implicated the city.
come acrossWe came across a lovely little restaurant in the village.

See more results »

B1 [ T ]

to realize that something exists or has happened:

[ + (that) ] We came home to find (that) the cat had had kittens.

I found (that) I could easily swim a mile.

be found

to exist or be present somewhere:

Many plant and animal species are found only in the rainforests.

find your way

to get somewhere you are trying to reach:

I had a map but I still couldn't find my way back to the hotel.

find fault with

to criticize someone or something:

She's always finding fault with the way he works.

find yourself

to realize that you are in a particular situation or place, or doing a particular thing, when you did not intend to:

He'll find himself with no friends at all if he carries on behaving this way.

find yourself in something We fell asleep on the train and woke up to find ourselves in Calais.

I found myself in a crowd outside the town hall.

Call me if you ever find yourself in need of a lawyer.

They might find themselves doubting the wisdom of their actions.

often humorous

If you go somewhere or do something to find yourself, you go there or do it to discover your true character:

Simon spent a year in an ashram in India to find himself.

They are here to support the local community, not to find themselves.

I was a successful artist, but I still needed to find myself.

He set out on a road trip in order to find himself.

You won't find anyone to share your life with until you have found yourself.

More examplesFewer examples

When the guard came to clip my train ticket , I couldn't find it.
I couldn't find the station, so I asked someone if they could direct me.
She moved to London in the hope of finding work as a model, but failed.
I found these photos while I was cleaning out my cupboards.
They couldn't find what they wanted and decided to look elsewhere.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Finding and discovering

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Existing and being

Understanding and comprehending

find verb (EXPERIENCE A FEELING)

B1 [ T ]

to think or feel a particular way about someone or something:

[ + obj + noun/adj ] Do you find John difficult to talk to?

I don't find him an easy person to get on with.

She doesn't find it easy to talk about her problems.

[ + -ing verb ] I find living in the city very stressful.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Guessing, supposing and suspecting

See more results »

find verb (JUDGE)

B2 [ I or T ]

to make a judgment in a law court:

[ + obj + adj ] In a unanimous verdict, the jury found him guilty/not guilty of the murder.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Judges & juries

See more results »

Idioms

find your feet
find it in your heart to do something
find your voice

Phrasal verbs

find (something) out

find someone out

find

noun [ C ]

/faɪnd/ uk

/faɪnd/

a good or valuable thing or a special person that has been discovered but was not known about before:

This café's quite a find - I had no idea there was anywhere like it around here.

find of A recent find of ancient artefacts is on display at the local museum.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Finding and discovering

See more results »

(Definition of find from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

find | Intermediate English

find

verb

/fɑɪnd/

past tense and past participle found us/fɑʊnd/

find verb (DISCOVER)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ T ]

to see where a thing or person is, either unexpectedly or by searching; discover:

I found a ten-dollar bill in my pocket.

I hope I can find a place to live near work.

Many plant and animal species are found (= exist) only in the rain forests.

[ T ]

Someone who finds information begins to understand something:

[ + that clause ] The study found that men who took an aspirin a day have fewer heart attacks.

Some insects have been found to live several years without water.

[ T ]

If you find a quality within yourself, you suddenly develop it or learn that you have it:

She found the courage to leave the town where she was born.

[ T ]

To find someone means to meet someone you can have a close, loving relationship with:

Ellen found Sascha, married him, and soon after they had twins.

find verb (JUDGE)

[ I/T ] law

to make a judgment in a law court:

[ T ] to be found guilty/innocent

Idioms

find yourself somewhere

find (the) time

Phrasal verb

find out (something)

find

noun [ C ]

/fɑɪnd/

find noun [C] (THING DISCOVERED)

a good or valuable thing or a special person that has been discovered:

She’s a real find – singers like her don’t grow on trees.

(Definition of find from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

find | Business English

find

verb [ T ]

/faɪnd/ us

found | found

Add to word list Add to word list

to be successful in getting something:

find work/employment/a job, etc. I have only managed to find part-time work which doesn't pay anything like what I was earning before.

It's very difficult to find good sales people.

find an answer As yet we haven't found an answer to the question of what to do when he retires.

The company needs to find £5 million by the end of the month to avoid going into administration.

Somehow they managed to find £10,000 for a deposit on the apartment.

to discover where something is:

It isn't easy to find their contact details on their website.

I can't find the file I created yesterday.

(also find (sth) out)

to discover information or a fact:

find that The study found that 60% of small and mid-sized firms in and around Paris reported a drop in sales since the strikes began.

We found out that our competitors were selling a similar product at a much higher price.

See also

finding

LAW

to decide on a particular judgment in a court of law:

find sb guilty/innocent All three men were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

find (the) time (for sth/to do sth)

if you find the time for something, you have enough time for it:

You need to find the time to check the figures before you send out the report.

find against sb

LAW

to decide in a court of law that someone is wrong:

The Advertising Standards Authority has found against the multinational in a case that could prove to be significant.

find for sb (also find in sb's favour); (US find in sb's favor)

LAW

to decide in a court of law that someone is right:

The employment tribunal found in my favour, and I received compensation for losing my job.

(Definition of find from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of find

find

He is being networked to find his new forever home.

From Huffington Post

So there's no telling what they're going to be finding out next.

From NPR

A recent national survey found that part-time workers' hours typically fluctuate from week to week.

From NOLA.com

He will surely grant me the joy of finding you.

From Los Angeles Times

Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

From CNN

He spends about two hours, all told, collecting and posting the images he finds.

From The New Yorker

She just needed to find the right party first.

From Business Insider

But while those here wait, their frustration grows -- as do reports of people attempting to find new ways of continuing their journey.

From Voice of America

Both struggled for years to find a foothold in the smartphone market.

From TIME

Their bodies were found next to each other in their home, police said.

From Minneapolis Star Tribune

They found an identity, which is hard to do.

From Dallas Morning News

What they found is probably not too surprising, though it is revealing.

From Ars Technica

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of find?

Translations of find

in Chinese (Traditional)

發現, （偶然）發現，碰上, 找到，尋得…

in Chinese (Simplified)

发现, （偶然）发现，碰上, 找到，寻得…

in Spanish

encontrar, descubrir, declarar a alguien culpable/no culpable…

in Portuguese

encontrar, achar, declarar…

in more languages

in Marathi

in Japanese

in Turkish

in French

in Catalan

in Dutch

in Tamil

in Hindi

in Gujarati

in Danish

in Swedish

in Malay

in German

in Norwegian

in Urdu

in Ukrainian

in Russian

in Telugu

in Arabic

in Bengali

in Czech

in Indonesian

in Thai

in Vietnamese

in Polish

in Korean

in Italian

सापडणे, शोधणे, मिळणे…

（人、もの）を見つける, （もの）を偶然見つける, ～と分かる…

bulmak, anlamak, öğrenmek…

(re)trouver, trouver, découvrir…

trobar, troballa, descoberta…

vinden, ontdekken, vondst…

கண்டுபிடிக்க, குறிப்பாக ஒரு விஷயம் அல்லது நபர் இருக்கும் இடத்தில், எதிர்பாராத விதமாக அல்லது தேடுவதன் மூலம்…

ढूँढ़ना, व्यक्ति, वस्तु या कुछ अचानक या कोशिश करने पर मिल जाना…

શોધવું, મળવું, જાણવું…

finde, finde ud af, fund…

finna, hitta, komma på…

menjumpai, mendapati, fikir…

finden, feststellen, der Fund…

finne, oppdage, se…

پانا, تلاش کرنا, ملنا…

(з)находити, виявляти, переконуватися…

находить, обнаруживать, натыкаться…

కనుగొను, ఎవరైనా లేదా ఏదో ఒకదాని గురించి ఒక నిర్దిష్ట మార్గంలో ఆలోచించడం లేదా అనుభూతి చెందడం, న్యాయస్థానంలో తీర్పు ఇచ్చు…

يَجِد, يَكْتَشِف, يَحُسّ…

খুঁজে পাওয়া, বিশেষ করে একটি বস্তু বা ব্যক্তি কোথায় আছে তা অপ্রত্যাশিতভাবে অথবা অনুসন্ধান করে আবিষ্কার করা অথবা কোথায় বা কিভাবে কিছু পাওয়া যায় তা আবিষ্কার করা, বুঝতে পারা…

najít, přijít na, zjistit…

menemukan, menyadari, berpikir…

พบ (โดยบังเอิญ), ค้นพบ, คิดว่า…

tìm thấy, thấy, bắt được…

znaleźć, odkryć, odkrycie…

찾다, (우연히) 발견하다, 알게 되다…