to ferret around
- phrasal verb
- /ˈfɛrɪt əˈraʊnd/
- Informal
:
revolver
- Judy decided to ferret around in the attic to find her old toys.
Examples
-
He loves to ferret around in thrift stores looking for hidden treasures.
-
Actually, scholars have ferreted around and discovered evidence that indeed, it was a play that Cervantes was planning to write.
-
I'd often ferret around in his workshop, fascinated by its intimations of wizardry, by tools whose purposes remained mysterious, even after all of his explanations.
Fiction book (2002) -
As a detective, she often had to ferret around for clues in difficult places.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To try to find something or someone by looking carefully
552
1.0
Turn your head and eyes to see what is around you
190
1.2
To look carefully for something or someone
77
3.3
To go ahead and explore a place to find something or information
66
3.3
To search a place very carefully to find something
57
5.1
To search a place carefully to find someone or something
35
3.8
To search through things quickly by moving them around
15
6.2
To search carefully for a long time to find hidden information
13
6.7
To search carefully to find hidden facts or documents
7
3.5
Touch things with your hands to find something, often when it is dark
6
7.1
To feel with your hands to find something in the dark
4
4.6
To search carefully through a large area or collection
3
7.2
To look around or think hard to find something you need
1
3.9
To search everywhere for something that is lost
1
5.6
To look in a worried way for an idea or solution
To search through a place or container in a messy way
To find something after a careful search
Move around looking for something in a worried or confused way
Antonyms
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to search or rummage about' is directly derivable from combining 'ferret' (to search thoroughly) with 'around' (in various places); the particle simply localizes the searching action. This follows a regular verb + particle composition common in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The verb ferret around may come from the small animal called a ferret, which pushes into holes, boxes, and bags to find hidden things. So ferret around means 'to search carefully' or 'to rummage' among many items.