to learn something that you did not know or to find something by research
example
She was unhappy to discover that she was pregnant as she felt it was not the right time.
synonyms
findnoticeidentify
word origin — Middle English (in the sense ‘make known’): from Old French descovrir, from late Latin discooperire, from Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + cooperire ‘cover completely’ (see cover)
Intermediate — Set 81
Set 81 of Intermediate covers 5 words: discover, realize, behave, blame, spread. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.
discover · verb/dəˈskəvər/
to learn something that you did not know or to find something by research
She was unhappy to discover that she was pregnant as she felt it was not the right time.
Synonyms: find, notice, identify
Origin: Middle English (in the sense ‘make known’): from Old French descovrir, from late Latin discooperire, from Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + cooperire ‘cover completely’ (see cover)
realize · verb/ˈri(ə)ˌlaɪz/
to suddenly understand something
The worker did not even realize that he was one hour late and entered the meeting with a smiling face.
Synonyms: comprehend, grasp, understand
Origin: early 17th century: from real, on the pattern of French réaliser
behave · verb/bəˈheɪv/
to act in a specified way
You should not behave aggressively towards children; otherwise you might end up having an violent child.
Synonyms: act, function, perform
Origin: late Middle English: from be-‘thoroughly’ + have in the sense ‘have or bear (oneself) in a particular way’
blame · verb/bleɪm/
to say that someone or something is the cause of an accident or something bad
It is obvious that the parents will blame the babysitter for her carelessness when they find out that the baby is injured.
Synonyms: accuse, charge
Origin: Middle English: from Old French blamer, blasmer (verb), from a popular Latin variant of ecclesiastical Latin blasphemare ‘reproach, revile, blaspheme’, from Greek blasphēmein (see blaspheme)
spread · verb/sprɛd/
to affect a wider place or more people
Chicken pox can spread rapidly through air, which makes it extremely contagious.
Synonyms: disperse, expand, stretch
Origin: Old English -sprǣdan (used in combinations), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch spreiden and German spreiten