lo ‧ cate W3 AC /ləʊˈkeɪt $ ˈloʊkeɪt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ local , ↑ location , ↑ relocation , ↑ locale , ↑ locality , ↑ localization , ↑ dislocation , ↑ relocation ; verb : ↑ locate , ↑ dislocate , ↑ relocate , ↑ localize ; adjective : ↑ local , ↑ localized , ↑ dislocated ; adverb : ↑ locally ]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of locare 'to place' , from locus ; ⇨ ↑ locus ]
1 . [transitive] to find the exact position of something:
We couldn’t locate the source of the radio signal.
2 . be located in/near etc something to be in a particular position or place SYN be situated :
The business is located right in the center of town.
3 . [transitive] to put or build something in a particular place:
Large retail chains are usually only prepared to locate stores in areas of high population density.
4 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] American English to come to a place and start a business, company etc there
locate in/at etc
We are offering incentives for companies to locate in our city.
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THESAURUS
▪ find to get or see something that you have been searching for:
Have you found your passport yet?
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Police later found the car abandoned in a wood.
▪ discover to find something that was hidden or that people did not know about before:
A second bomb has been discovered in south London.
▪ locate formal to find the exact position of something:
The airline are still trying to locate my luggage.
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Online maps make it easy to locate almost any place in the world.
▪ come across something to find something unexpectedly when you are not looking for it:
I came across some old letters from my father in my drawer.
▪ stumble on/across something to find something unexpectedly, especially something very important:
They may have stumbled across some vital evidence.
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Completely by chance we had stumbled on the biggest hit of the year.
▪ trace to find someone or something that has disappeared, especially by a careful process of collecting information:
She had given up all hope of tracing her missing daughter.
▪ track somebody/something down to find someone or something that is difficult to find by searching in different places:
I’ve been trying to track down a book that’s out of print.
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The police managed to track down the killer.
▪ unearth to find something that has been hidden or lost for a long time, by digging or searching for it:
In 1796, a carved stone was unearthed near the burial mound.