find out

verb

found out; finding out; finds out
Synonyms of find outnext

transitive verb

1
: to learn by effort, study, observation, or search : discover
I need to find out where the meeting is being held.
2
a
: to catch in an offense (such as a crime)
The culprits were soon found out.
b
: to ascertain the true character or identity of
The informer was eventually found out.

intransitive verb

: to discover, learn, or verify something
I don't know, but I'll find out for you.

Examples of find out in a Sentence

that was around the time that I found out I was adopted found out about the new restaurant by reading reviews online
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To me, that is not the reaction of a woman who just found out her fiancé was a murderer. Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026 To find out whether that day was coming, Anthropic built a series of tests—tasks that would take a human expert hours. Harry Booth, Time, 7 Aug. 2026 With images, teams can often scan thumbnails and quickly find out what assets are available. Tal Lev-Ami, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026 As officials later found out, living quarters inside the school were segregated by gender. Zander Sherman, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for find out

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of find out was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Find out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/find%20out. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

Kids Definition

find out

verb
1
: to learn by study, observation, or search : discover
2
: to catch doing something bad
the culprit was found out

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