/pɹəʊb/, /pɹoʊb/
OriginFor 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.
- Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc.
- An anal probe, a fictional instrument commonly used by aliens on abducted humans.
“You know, XR178.9, we haven't done any anal probes in a while.”
“You listen here! We don't do anal probes like other aliens, but I'm about to make an exception!”
- figurativelySomething which penetrates something else, as though to explore; something which obtains information.
“Silverberg also gives the reader reader some excellent character insight; deep probes into the minds of all the principals bring the reader closer to the persons involved than might be thought possibl”
- An act of probing; a prod, a poke.
- figurativelyAn investigation or inquiry.
“They launched a probe into the cause of the accident.”
- A tube attached to an aircraft which can be fitted into the drogue from a tanker aircraft to allow for aerial refuelling.
- A small device, especially an electrode, used to explore, investigate or measure something by penetrating or being placed in it.
“Insert the probe into the soil and read the temperature.”
- A small, usually uncrewed, spacecraft used to acquire information or measurements about its surroundings.
- A move with multiple possible answers, seeking to make the opponent choose and commit to a strategy.
- Any group of atoms or molecules radioactively labeled in order to study a given molecule or other structure
- ambitransitiveTo explore, investigate, question, test, or prove.
“If you probe further, you may discover different reasons.”
“the growing disposition to probe the legality of all acts of the crown”
“It was exhilarating to watch him share a meal and then probe deeper into the cultures, the politics, and the heartbeat of the people of the city or country he was in. He seemed so learned, but not in ”
- transitiveTo insert a probe into.
- A model of Ford automobile.
Formsprobes(plural) · probes(present, singular, third-person) · probing(participle, present) · probed(participle, past) · probed(past)