(~s, ~ing, found)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ someone or something, you see them or learn where they are.
The police also found a pistol...
I wonder if you could ~ me a deck of cards?
VERB: V n, V n n, also V n for n
2.
If you ~ something that you need or want, you succeed in achieving or obtaining it.
So far they have not found a way to fight the virus...
He has to apply for a permit and we have to ~ him a job...
Does this mean that they haven’t found a place for him?
VERB: V n, V n n, V n for n, also V n for n to-inf
3.
If something is found in a particular place or thing, it exists in that place.
Fibre is found in cereal foods, beans, fruit and vegetables.
V-PASSIVE: be V-ed
4.
If you ~ someone or something in a particular situation, they are in that situation when you see them or come into contact with them.
They found her walking alone and depressed on the beach...
She returned to her east London home to ~ her back door forced open...
Thrushes are a protected species so you will not ~ them on any menu.
VERB: V n -ing, V n -ed, V n prep/adv
5.
If you ~ yourself doing something, you are doing it without deciding or intending to do it.
It’s not the first time that you’ve found yourself in this situation...
I found myself having more fun than I had had in years...
It all seemed so far away from here that he found himself quite unable to take it in.
VERB: V pron-refl prep/adv, V pron-refl -ing, V pron-refl adj
6.
If you ~ that something is the case, you become aware of it or realize that it is the case.
The two biologists found, to their surprise, that both groups of birds survived equally well...
At my age I would ~ it hard to get another job...
We ~ her evidence to be based on a degree of oversensitivity...
I’ve never found my diet a problem.
VERB: V that, V it adj to-inf, V n to-inf, V n n
7.
When a court or jury decides that a person on trial is guilty or innocent, you say that the person has been found guilty or not guilty.
She was found guilty of manslaughter and put on probation for two years...
When they found us guilty, I just went blank.
VERB: be V-ed adj, V n adj
8.
You can use ~ to express your reaction to someone or something.
We’re sure you’ll ~ it exciting!...
I ~ it ludicrous that nothing has been done to protect passengers from fire...
But you’d ~ him a good worker if you showed him what to do.
VERB: V n adj, V it adj that, V n n
9.
If you ~ a feeling such as pleasure or comfort in a particular thing or activity, you experience the feeling mentioned as a result of this thing or activity.
How could anyone ~ pleasure in hunting and killing this beautiful creature?...
I was too tired and frightened to ~ comfort in that familiar promise.
VERB: V n in -ing, V n in n
10.
If you ~ the time or money to do something, you succeed in making or obtaining enough time or money to do it.
I was just ~ing more time to write music...
My sister helped me ~ the money for a private operation.
VERB: V n, V n
11.
If you describe someone or something that has been discovered as a ~, you mean that they are valuable, interesting, good, or useful.
Another of his lucky ~s was a pair of candle-holders...
His discovery was hailed as the botanical ~ of the century.
N-COUNT: usu adj N
12.
see also ~ing , found
13.
If you ~ your way somewhere, you successfully get there by choosing the right way to go.
After a while I pulled myself to my feet and found my way to the street.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR prep/adv
14.
If something ~s its way somewhere, it comes to that place, especially by chance.
It is one of the very few Michelangelos that have found their way out of Italy...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR adv/prep
15.
to ~ fault with: see fault
to ~ one’s feet: see foot