ferret out
1ferret out — (something) to discover something after careful searching. Officials say they will ferret out abuses in the welfare program. If you re looking for owners of abandoned property, it can take years to ferret them out …
2ferret out — [v] trace, search out ascertain, be on to, bring to light*, chase, determine, dig up*, disclose, discover, drive out, elicit, extract, follow, get at*, hunt, learn, nose out*, penetrate, pick up on, pierce, probe, pry, pursue, quest, root out*,… …
3ferret\ out — • ferret out literary • sniff out • smell out v To hunt or drive from hiding; to bring out into the open; search for and find. Jane smelled out the boys secret hiding place in the woods. John ferreted out the answer to the question in the library …
4ferret out — index ascertain, cross examine, delve, detect, discover, disinter, educe, find (discover) …
5ferret out — vb *seek, search, scour, hunt, comb, ransack, rummage Analogous words: extract, elicit (see EDUCE): penetrate, pierce, probe (see ENTER) …
6ferret out — verb search and discover through persistent investigation (Freq. 1) She ferreted out the truth • Syn: ↑ferret • Hypernyms: ↑discover, ↑find • Verb Frames …
7ferret out — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms ferret out : present tense I/you/we/they ferret out he/she/it ferrets out present participle ferreting out past tense ferreted out past participle ferreted out to discover information by searching for it in a… …
8ferret out — PHRASAL VERB If you ferret out some information, you discover it by searching for it very thoroughly. [INFORMAL] [V P n (not pron)] The team is trying to ferret out missing details... [V n P] I leave it to the reader to ferret these out. Syn:… …
9ferret out something — ferret out (something) to discover something after careful searching. Officials say they will ferret out abuses in the welfare program. If you re looking for owners of abandoned property, it can take years to ferret them out …
10ferret out — Synonyms and related words: ascertain, bring to light, cast about, chase, determine, dig out, dig up, disclose, discover, disinter, elicit, excavate, exhume, expose, extract, fish out, fish up, follow, grub up, hunt, hunt out, learn, nose out,… …
