Did you know?
Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word
investigate
- definition
What are red words?
90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.
Thesaurus
The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.
more
/ɪnˈvestɪɡeɪt/ 
| present tense | |
| I/you/we/they | investigate |
| he/she/it | investigates |
| present participle | investigating |
| past tense | investigated |
| past participle | investigated |
- [intransitive/transitive] to try to find out the facts about something in order to learn the truth about it
We sent a reporter to investigate the rumour.
All complaints from our customers are investigated quickly and efficiently.
A short time later I heard a noise outside and went to investigate.
investigate what/why/whether etc:The research aims to investigate why schools are not doing better.
This is the British English definition of investigate. View American English definition of investigate.
Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.
vocal fry
a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence
BuzzWord ArticleWord of the Day
glottal stop
a sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken...
Open Dictionary
conflict mineral
a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons
add a wordMore submissions
view entriesBlog
A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.
global English and language change from our blog