/ ɪkˈsplɔː(r); NAmE / verb
1.
explore (sth) (for sth) to travel to or around an area or a country in order to learn about it :
[ vn ]
The city is best explored on foot.
They explored the land to the south of the Murray river.
[ v ]
As soon as we arrived on the island we were eager to explore.
companies exploring for (= searching for) oil
2.
[ vn ] to examine sth completely or carefully in order to find out more about it
SYN analyse :
These ideas will be explored in more detail in chapter 7.
3.
[ vn ] to feel sth with your hands or another part of the body :
She explored the sand with her toes.
—see also unexplored
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (in the sense investigate (why) ): from French explorer , from Latin explorare search out, from ex- out + plorare utter a cry.