to ferret
15
6.2
- verb
- /ˈfɛrɪt/
:
averiguar
- Or do we take the position that our job is to ferret out the truth?
They're also trying to ferret out this network of traders, merchanders who are supplying the Maslani fleet.
- They're also trying to ferret out this network of traders, merchanders who are supplying the Maslani fleet.
- Like he supported me and me ferreting out in the new CMC that was at traded at the time.
- That's the research that is what they ferreted out in the research was the most legitimate and best way to proceed is, is what you did.
- One is ferreting it out, trying to cause the body to trigger to release, you know, the kind of stored HIV by kind of shocking it and, and, and ferreting it out.
Examples
-
To have students do the research and ferret out the costs for common things and services.
Academic text (2008) -
The detective worked tirelessly to ferret out the hidden details of the case.
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We'll ferret out any criminal here, sir.
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To ferret out this corruption wherever it may exist.
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We need to ferret out German spies.
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"And he's invited me to ferret out that evidence, if I can."
Fiction book (1993) -
Probably afraid that somehow I'd managed to ferret out her secrets.
Fiction book (1999) -
I'm hoping he might be amenable to helping me ferret them out and take them down.
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I have a new agent in Paris, a smart Englishman who will ferret out this murderer.
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I daresay there's plenty of evil in Sycamore Springs, and it's your duty to ferret it out.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To try to find something or someone by looking carefully
190
1.2
To look carefully for something or someone
13
6.7
To search carefully to find hidden facts or documents
To search carefully through things in a small place like a bag or box
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
1
8.9
A small wild animal with black feet and a dark face mask that lives on US prairies
How Persistent
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ferret later came to mean 'to search' because a ferret hunts in dark holes to find hidden prey. So, to ferret through papers or facts is to look hard for something hidden or secret.