(~s, probing, ~d)
1.
If you ~ into something, you ask questions or try to discover facts about it.
The more they ~d into his background, the more inflamed their suspicions would become...
For three years, I have ~d for understanding...
The Office of Fair Trading has been probing banking practices...
The form asks probing questions.
VERB: V into n, V for n, V n, V-ing
•
Probe is also a noun.
...a federal grand-jury ~ into corruption within the FDA.
N-COUNT
probing (probings)
If he remains here, he’ll be away from the press and their probings.
N-COUNT
2.
If a doctor or dentist ~s, he or she uses a long instrument to examine part of a patient’s body.
The surgeon would pick up his instruments, ~, repair and stitch up again...
Dr Amid ~d around the sensitive area...
VERB: V, V prep/adv
3.
A ~ is a long thin instrument that doctors and dentists use to examine parts of the body.
...a fibre-optic ~.
N-COUNT
4.
If you ~ a place, you search it in order to find someone or something that you are looking for.
A flashlight beam ~d the underbrush only yards away from their hiding place...
I ~d around for some time in the bushes.
VERB: V n, V adv/prep
5.
In a conflict such as a war, if one side ~s another side’s defences, they try to find their weaknesses, for example by attacking them in specific areas using a small number of troops. (JOURNALISM)
He ~s the enemy’s weak positions, ignoring his strongholds...
VERB: V n
•
Probe is also a noun.
Small ~s would give the allied armies some combat experience before the main battle started.
N-COUNT
6.
A space ~ is a spacecraft which travels into space with no people in it, usually in order to study the planets and send information about them back to earth.
N-COUNT: usu n N