re ‧ con ‧ noi ‧ tre BrE AmE British English , reconnoiter American English /ˌrekəˈnɔɪtə $ ˌriːkəˈnɔɪtər/ verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: Early French reconnoître , from Old French reconoistre ; ⇨ ↑ recognize ]
1 . to try to find out the position and size of your enemy’s army, for example by flying planes over land where their soldiers are
2 . to find out information about an area:
All morning, the world’s top cyclists have been reconnoitring the course.