to find out
398
1.1
- phrasal verb
- /faɪnd aʊt/
:
descubrir
- Anyway, Mary Covington found out about it.
- find out later
- people find out
- parents find out
And then they suddenly find out, oh, that guy is a killer.
- And then they suddenly find out, oh, that guy is a killer.
- It's as though they've been found out and they want you to cop to it.
- The Colombo family found out that I went with a gun.
- They break up because she finds out that Ellenberger's been cheating on him.
- But you found out in a certain moment he lied.
Examples
-
What do you suppose would happen if he found out about the accident policy?
-
His employer found out about it and and fired him.
-
Were you scared all this time that people would find out about the real you?
-
Let us know what you find out.
-
And then they find out that the government wants half.
-
Then, when Robert was 16 and a junior, his parents found out and everything changed.
Fiction book (1992) -
Do you know what would happen if they found out your visa had expired?
-
And when the trial judge found out the truth, she was appalled.
-
But then we found out that he's the killer.
-
His employer found out about his dishonest actions and decided to fire him.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To discover something while looking or by accident
478
1.0
To make secret information known to other people
342
4.1
Reveal hidden facts or bad actions to people
243
3.5
Reveal secret facts to the public
31
3.0
To find out what really happened
23
4.4
To find hidden facts or things by careful searching
20
3.7
To show facts that were hidden before
18
6.0
Tell a secret by accident before others know
13
6.7
To search carefully to find hidden facts or documents
11
6.3
To show someone has made a mistake or done something wrong, often by surprise
9
6.5
Look for and tell secret or bad things about someone to harm them
2
5.5
To show something hidden so people can see it
Antonyms
How Exposed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to discover or expose' is directly derivable from 'find' (to discover) combined with 'out' (into the open/revealed). The particle 'out' adds the sense of bringing something hidden into view, a compositional and cross-linguistically common pattern that a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer.
Etymology
Find out may come from the same picture: you find a secret and put it out in the open. That's why it means 'show' or 'catch' someone who did something wrong.