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Definition of exploration noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

exploration

noun
 
/ˌekspləˈreɪʃn/
 
/ˌekspləˈreɪʃn/
[countable, uncountable]
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  1. the act of travelling through a place in order to find out about it or look for something in it
    • Budgets for space exploration have been cut back.
    • oil exploration (= searching for oil in the ground)
    • Lewis and Clark's exploration of the vast uncharted area of the north-west
    Extra Examples
    • the exploration of space
    • Exploration activity slowed during the 1970s.
    • Extensive exploration was carried out using the latest drilling technology.
    • speculative exploration for oil
    • Mineral exploration is continuing throughout the area.
    • The ship is designed for deep space exploration.
    • Interest developed in the scientific exploration of the sea.
    • Much of a child's play is concerned with the exploration of his/​her environment.
    • This was the time of Humboldt's explorations in South America.
    • Cook charted the coast of New Zealand on his first voyage of exploration.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • energy
    • gas
    • mineral
    verb + exploration
    • carry out
    • begin
    • continue
    exploration + verb
    • take place
    exploration + noun
    • activity
    • programme/​program
    • company
    preposition
    • exploration for
    See full entry
  2. an examination of something in order to find out about it
    • These findings merit further exploration.
    • the book’s explorations of the human mind
    Extra Examples
    • My ideas needed more careful exploration.
    • creative exploration of music as a medium in education
    • her personal exploration of spirituality
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • brief
    • extensive
    • deep
    verb + exploration
    • need
    • require
    • begin
    See full entry
  3. Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting an investigation): from French, or from Latin exploratio(n-), from the verb explorare ‘search out’, from ex- ‘out’ + plorare ‘utter a cry’. The current sense dates from the early 19th cent.
See exploration in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee exploration in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
elaborate
adjective
 
 
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