Verbs — Are You Searching, Investigating, Scouring or Hunting?

Let’s Search The Meaning

Search is a pretty straight forward verb that can be used flexibly. But sometimes you have more context to search. There is more meaning you want to convey.

If you keep on patching-up adverbs, adjectives & qualifiers to convey those meanings, you will get bored of your search. Your story will slow down. You will find it difficult to upgrade to bigger ideas.

Your sentences will stretch long. Instead of conveying the meaning, the sentences will reflect your struggle to convey the meaning. You will feel stuck.

For ignorance of other verbs, I am guilty of doing it all the time.

For example, look at this innocent sentence.

I was searching the web for a specific article on meditation, but I couldn’t find it.

While “search” looks fine here, there is something amiss. Because I was searching the web hurriedly going over things one-by-one. The sentence above using the word “search” just doesn’t convey this extra meaning.

I could have conveyed my idea better like this,

I scoured the web for a specific article on meditation.

Suddenly the meaning is obvious and there is motion. This new verb characterizes my search very well.

So, let’s look at 4 verbs — Search, Investigate, Scour and Hunt.

Search

The meaning of search is very clear as such.

What confuses many is the usage. Is it Search or Search for ?

When you say you are searching something. Then you are searching through it or inside it.

I will search my room. I must have left your book in there.

Let’s search the database.

Here, you are searching inside the database. But if you say,

Let’s search for database.

It means you are looking for a certain database. Like database of phone numbers or email addresses.

When you say you are searching for something, you are in a look out for that object. Like,

I am searching for my keys.

We need to search for a bigger purpose.

Search is a transitive verb here. It needs this solid object to pass its action to.

So, if you say,

I am searching information

The sentence means, you are searching something inside information. That is absurd. Because “Information” is abstract. You need a solid object there. You could say,

I am searching for information in a database

Or,

I am searching the database for some information.

Now your meaning is clear.

Search is simple barebone verb. But your search could have more character to it. For example, you could be searching hurriedly or in a systematic manner. There could be some seriousness associated to your search.

Search is a good technical word. But to bring out more character, we need new verbs.

We cannot keep loading adverbs & prepositions to qualify the character of our “search”. We want powerful verbs.

Shall we investigate?

Investigate

When you investigate you look for facts to support a claim to establish certain truth.

This means when you set out to investigate some action has taken place or some statement has already been made.

Moreover investigating will involve enquiries, talking to people, looking at evidences and facts.

Now imagine if you had convey they same idea using “Search”.

I was searching for truth by enquiring and looking at facts, figures and evidences.

Ugly.

I was investigating the case.

Better.

Investigate is such a nice clean transitive verb with no need to qualify the meaning any further. It’s beautiful. Even if used it as an intransitive verb, it will still end up conveying so much more.

I was investigating.

Don’t you feel a story playing out in this sentence? “Investigate” here feels more of a transitive verb with an invisible but obvious object. You can feel the object’s presence in the backstory.

But, what if you were looking at a list of suspects? Or, maybe you were hurriedly chasing one of them.

Scouring

“Scour” as a verb has many meanings.

Usually it means, rubbing a surface hard to remove dirt & make the surface shine. There is a connotations of revealing what is hidden and hurriedness in this word.

When used in sense of search two meanings come up.

One meaning is — to search for something in a place, book, text (or any subject) in a particular order.

So you go searching layer by layer.

Also, you scour someplace for something.

Not scour for something in someplace.

This is unlike “search for”.

You remember this usage you can refer to the first meaning scouring a utensil to remove the stains. It’s like scrubbing.

The boys were scouring the ground for the lost watch

The second meaning of scour is in sense of hurriedness — To hurriedly move in a direction to search something.

This is very interesting because it gives you an option to replace verbs that just convey a dry actions. So instead of climbing, running or dashing, you can scour.

He scoured down the ladder to find the cat.

She scoured across the field but couldn’t find him anywhere.

Imagine if you had said ran across the field. You would have just spoken about the action of running.

Now, what if she was determined to find him?

Hunting

When determination is involved, the word is hunt.

She was going to hunt down the thief.

She was hunting for a job.

This means she was searching for a job in a determined manner. When you use “hunting”, you can already feel that she must have applied & interviewed at many places; that she had spoken to many people; that she was determined to find a job.

“Search” wouldn’t convey that intensity.

We went house-hunting.

Here you can even sense a connotation of guesswork besides determination.

Do you have any more observations on these verbs? Would you like to add more words that convey “search”? Put them in comments.