probe

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A careful investigation into something, especially something wrong.

   The police launched a probe into the missing money.

2. 2
   verb

   To investigate or ask questions in order to find out the truth.

   Reporters began to probe into the company's finances.

3. 3
   verb

   To examine something physically by touching or reaching into it.

   The doctor gently probed the wound to check for damage.

4. 4
   noun

   A thin instrument or device used to explore or measure something.

   She pushed the temperature probe into the soil.

For verb: borrowed from Latin probare (“to test, examine, prove”), from probus (“good”). Doublet of prove. For noun: borrowed from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from probare (“to test, examine, prove”); Doublet of proof. Compare Spanish tienta (“a surgeon's probe”), from tentar (“try, test”); see tempt.

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