to feel around
7
3.5
- phrasal verb
:
buscar a tientas
- Shivering, she felt around in the dark for her slippers but failed to locate them.
- felt around in my pocket
- felt around in my purse
- felt around in the dark
I, I go back up, get another breath of air, go down again, feel around in the passenger seat.
- I, I go back up, get another breath of air, go down again, feel around in the passenger seat.
- And so at that point you feel around for the heat.
Examples
-
Charlotte sat up and felt around for a match to light the gas.
Fiction book (1990) -
I felt around until I found a wall, then a window, then a roofline.
Academic text (2010) -
And so at that point you feel around for the heat.
-
And then Harry began feeling around on all the trees.
-
Nothing is out of place, but I feel around just to make sure.
Fiction book (2002) -
With her right hand, she felt around for the hand that was missing.
Fiction book (1994) -
Just in case, I felt around in my pocket and found my keys.
Fiction book (1996) -
Check, feel around, see if anything's missing.
-
I feel around the table with my fingers and pick up a fine beige envelope.
Fiction book (2002) -
In the dark, he had to feel around to find the light switch.
Synonyms
∞
2.3
To use your hands to find something when you cannot see it
21
6.3
To feel for something with your hands when you cannot see
6
7.1
To feel with your hands to find something in the dark
5
6.5
To feel around with your hands to find something
3
7.2
To look around or think hard to find something you need
To search carefully through things in a small place like a bag or box
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to search by touching' is directly and compositionally derived from 'feel' (to touch/probe) combined with 'around' (moving about in the surrounding area), so a learner who knows both words can infer the action of groping/searching by touch. This verb+particle pattern is a regular English phrasal construction and has clear equivalents in many languages, making the expression immediately understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrasal verb feel around comes from the image of using your hands to feel all over a place and move around when you can't see, like searching in a dark room or in a bag. So, it means 'to search by touching'.