- 1[intransitive, transitive] to carefully examine the facts of a situation, an event, a crime, etc. to find out the truth about it or how it happened The FBI has been called in to investigate. (informal) “What was that noise?” “I'll go and investigate.” investigate something Police are investigating possible links between the murders. investigate what, how, etc… Police are investigating what happened. Topic CollocationsCrimecommitting a crime
- commit a crime/a murder/a violent assault/a brutal killing/an armed robbery/fraud/perjury
- be involved in terrorism/a suspected arson attack/human smuggling/human trafficking
- engage/participate in criminal activity/illegal practices/acts of mindless vandalism
- steal somebody's wallet/purse/watch/cell phone
- rob a bank/a person/a tourist
- break into/burglarize a house/a home/an apartment/an office
- hijack a plane/ship/bus
- smuggle drugs/weapons/arms/people/immigrants
- launder (drug) money (through something)
- forge documents/certificates/passports
- take/accept/pay somebody/offer (somebody) a bribe
- run a phishing scam/an e-mail scam/an Internet scam
- combat/fight crime/terrorism/drug trafficking/corruption
- prevent/stop credit-card fraud/child abuse/software piracy
- deter/stop criminals/burglars/thieves/shoplifters/vandals
- reduce/tackle/crack down on gun/violent/street/property crime
- foil a bank robbery/a terrorist plot
- help/support/protect the victims of crime
- report a crime/a theft/a rape/an attack/an incident to the police
- witness a crime/an attack/a murder/an incident
- investigate a murder/a homicide/a burglary/a robbery/the alleged incident
- conduct/launch/pursue/open an investigation (into…)
- investigate/reopen a criminal/murder case
- examine/investigate/find fingerprints at the crime scene/the scene of crime
- collect/gather forensic evidence/physical evidence
- uncover/discover new evidence/a fraud/a scam/a plot/a conspiracy/political corruption/a cache of weapons
- describe/identify a suspect/the culprit/the perpetrator/the assailant/the attacker
- question/interrogate a suspect/witness
- solve/crack the case
- ⇨ more collocations at
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- 2[transitive] investigate somebody (for something) to try to find out information about someone's character, activities, etc. This is not the first time he has been investigated by the police for fraud.
- 3[transitive, intransitive] to find out information and facts about a subject or problem by study or research investigate (something) Scientists are investigating the effects of diet on fighting cancer. investigate how, what, etc… The research investigates how foreign speakers gain fluency. AWL Collocationsinvestigateinvestigate verb
- empirically, experimentally
- theoretically
- rigorously, systematically, thoroughly
- extensively, further
- influence, interaction, relationship, role
- effect, efficacy
- hypothesis
- empirical, scientific
- thorough
- further, ongoing
- conduct, undertake
- demonstrate, reveal, show, uncover, yield
verb jump to other results
NAmE//ɪnˈvɛstəˌɡeɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they investigate he / she / it investigates
past simple investigated
-ing form investigating
Check pronunciation: investigate