Meaning

3 senses

  1. (transitive)To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.

    to investigate the causes of natural phenomena

    He was asked to investigate a robbery.

    untersuchen, erforschen, recherchieren

    иссле́доватьisslédovatʹ, рассле́доватьrasslédovatʹ

    дослі́джуватиdoslídžuvaty, досліди́тиdoslidýty

  2. (transitive)To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.

    to investigate an unsolved murder

    untersuchen

    рассле́доватьrasslédovatʹ, изуча́тьizučátʹ, изучи́тьizučítʹ

    розслі́дуватиrozslíduvaty

  3. (intransitive)To conduct an inquiry or examination.

    ermitteln

    рассле́доватьrasslédovatʹ

    conduct an inquiry or investigation of

Examples

333 sentences

  1. The police are investigating the murder.

    Поліція розслідує вбивство. — deniko

    ruПолиция расследует убийство. — Biga

    deDie Polizei untersucht den Mord. — Wolf

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.

    Поліція розслідує причину нещасного випадку. — Internecivus

    ruПолиция расследует причину аварии. — marafon

    deDie Polizei sucht nach der Ursache des Unfalls. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom is being investigated.

    Том знаходиться під слідством. — deniko

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. We still need to investigate that.

    deDa stehen wir noch vor Ermittlungen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. We need to investigate the matter.

    deWir müssen die Angelegenheit untersuchen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
(transitive) to inquire into, study:
(transitive) to examine:
Русский
By meaning 2
(transitive) to inquire into, study:
(transitive) to examine:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
(transitive) to inquire into, study:
(intransitive) to conduct an inquiry or examination:

Origin

Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation on the basis of -ate (verb-

Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from Latin investīgātiō (“a searching into”), from investīgātus, the perfect passive participle of investīgō, equivalent to in- + vestigate. Displaced native Old English undersēċan (literally “to search under or between”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

investigates, investigating, investigated, investigated
Base forminvestigate · to investigate
3rd person singularinvestigates
Present participleinvestigating
Past simpleinvestigated
Past participleinvestigated

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyinvestigate
he, she, itinvestigates

Past simpleLesson

all personsinvestigated

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave investigated
he, she, ithas investigated

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill investigate

Synonyms

4 synonyms
underseek
Close in meaning
  • conduct an inquiry or investigation of:inquireenquire
  • investigate scientifically:look into

Word family

16 related words
RelatedinvestigationB1investigatorB2investigabilityinvestigableinvestigationalinvestigativeinvestigatoryinvestigating
Derivedcoinvestigateinvestigatinglynoninvestigatedreinvestigatetransvestigateunderinvestigateduninvestigateduninvestigating

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

7 patterns
  • investigating the cause
  • police are investigating
  • investigate the matter
  • are investigating the
  • to investigate the
  • are still investigating
  • still investigating

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
invertebrateinvestB1investigationB1investigativeinvestigatorB2investmentB2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

investigate — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto