Discover vs. Find

To find or learn something for the first time.

Example: ‘Turning the corner, I discovered a lovely little shop. I discovered that they sold widgets.’;

To remove the cover from; to uncover (a head, building etc.).

To expose, uncover.

Example: ‘The gust of wind discovered a bone in the sand.’;

To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.

Example: ‘This move discovers an attack on a vital pawn.’;

To reveal (information); to divulge, make known.

Example: ‘I discovered my plans to the rest of the team.’;

To reconnoitre, explore (an area).

(obsolete) To manifest without design; to show; to exhibit.

To uncover.

Example: ‘Whether any man hath pulled down or discovered any church.’;

To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown).

Example: ‘Go, draw aside the curtains, and discoverThe several caskets to this noble prince.’; ‘Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.’; ‘We will discover ourselves unto them.’; ‘Discover not a secret to another.’;

To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect.

Example: ‘Some to discover islands far away.’;

To manifest without design; to show.

Example: ‘The youth discovered a taste for sculpture.’;

To explore; to examine.

To discover or show one's self.

Example: ‘This done, they discover.’; ‘Nor was this the first time that they discovered to be followers of this world.’;

discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of;

Example: ‘She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water’; ‘We found traces of lead in the paint’;

make a discovery, make a new finding;

Example: ‘Roentgen discovered X-rays’; ‘Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle’;

get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally;

Example: ‘I learned that she has two grown-up children’; ‘I see that you have been promoted’;

make a discovery;

Example: ‘She found that he had lied to her’; ‘The story is false, so far as I can discover’;

find unexpectedly;

Example: ‘the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb’; ‘she struck a goldmine’; ‘The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake’;

make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret;

Example: ‘The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold’; ‘The actress won't reveal how old she is’; ‘bring out the truth’; ‘he broke the news to her’;

see for the first time; make a discovery;

Example: ‘Who discovered the North Pole?’;

identify as in botany or biology, for example

(transitive) To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.

(transitive) To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.

Example: ‘I found my car keys. They were under the couch.’;

(transitive) To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end.

Example: ‘Water is found to be a compound substance.’;

(transitive) To gain, as the object of desire or effort.

Example: ‘to find leisure; to find means’;

(transitive) To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

Example: ‘Looks like he found a new vehicle for himself!’;

(transitive) To point out.

Example: ‘He kept finding faults with my work.’;

(transitive) To decide that, to discover that, to form the opinion that.

Example: ‘I find your argument unsatisfactory.’;

(transitive) To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.

Example: ‘to find a verdict; to find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person’;

To supply; to furnish.

Example: ‘to find food for workmen’;

To provide for

Example: ‘He finds his nephew in money.’;

To determine or judge.

Example: ‘The jury finds for the defendant.’;

To discover game.

Anything that is found (usually valuable), as objects on an archeological site or a person with talent.

The act of finding.

To meet with, or light upon, accidentally; to gain the first sight or knowledge of, as of something new, or unknown; hence, to fall in with, as a person.

Example: ‘Searching the window for a flint, I foundThis paper, thus sealed up.’; ‘In woods and forests thou art found.’;

To learn by experience or trial; to perceive; to experience; to discover by the intellect or the feelings; to detect; to feel.

Example: ‘The torrid zone is now found habitable.’;

To come upon by seeking; as, to find something lost.

Example: ‘Seek, and ye shall find.’; ‘Every mountain now hath found a tongue.’;

To provide for; to supply; to furnish; as, to find food for workemen; he finds his nephew in money.

Example: ‘Wages £14 and all found.’; ‘Nothing a day and find yourself.’;

To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish; as, to find a verdict; to find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person.

Example: ‘To find his title with some shows of truth.’;

To determine an issue of fact, and to declare such a determination to a court; as, the jury find for the plaintiff.

Anything found; a discovery of anything valuable; especially, a deposit, discovered by archæologists, of objects of prehistoric or unknown origin.

a productive insight

the act of discovering something

come upon, as if by accident; meet with;

Example: ‘We find this idea in Plato’; ‘I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here’; ‘She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day’;

discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of;

Example: ‘She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water’; ‘We found traces of lead in the paint’;

come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost;

Example: ‘Did you find your glasses?’; ‘I cannot find my gloves!’;

after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study;

Example: ‘find the product of two numbers’; ‘The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize’;

come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds;

Example: ‘I feel that he doesn't like me’; ‘I find him to be obnoxious’; ‘I found the movie rather entertaining’;

perceive or be contemporaneous with;

Example: ‘We found Republicans winning the offices’; ‘You'll see a lot of cheating in this school’; ‘I want to see results’; ‘The 1960 saw the rebellion of the younger generation against established traditions’; ‘I want to see results’;

get something or somebody for a specific purpose;

Example: ‘I found this gadget that will serve as a bottle opener’; ‘I got hold of these tools to fix our plumbing’; ‘The chairman got hold of a secretary on Friday night to type the urgent letter’;

make a discovery, make a new finding;

Example: ‘Roentgen discovered X-rays’; ‘Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle’;

make a discovery;

Example: ‘She found that he had lied to her’; ‘The story is false, so far as I can discover’;

obtain through effort or management;

Example: ‘She found the time and energy to take care of her aging parents’; ‘We found the money to send our sons to college’;

decide on and make a declaration about;

Example: ‘find someone guilty’;

receive a specified treatment (abstract);

Example: ‘These aspects of civilization do not find expression or receive an interpretation’; ‘His movie received a good review’; ‘I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions’;

perceive oneself to be in a certain condition or place;

Example: ‘I found myself in a difficult situation’; ‘When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital room’;

get or find back; recover the use of;

Example: ‘She regained control of herself’; ‘She found her voice and replied quickly’;

succeed in reaching; arrive at;

Example: ‘The arrrow found its mark’;

accept and make use of one's personality, abilities, and situation;

Example: ‘My son went to Berkeley to find himself’;