investigate
- 01 B1 Intermediate
to look for facts to find out how something happened, especially a crime or an accident.
to carry out a formal inquiry into an incident or allegation to establish the truth. Often used with a direct object representing the event or the person involved.
Simple“The police are currently investigating the cause of the fire at the warehouse.”
In context“Detectives were assigned to investigate the disappearance of the documents, though they found little evidence of forced entry at the scene.”
UsageThis verb is transitive and takes a direct object representing the subject of the inquiry.
PitfallThe police are investigating about the robbery. The police are investigating the robbery.The verb 'investigate' is transitive; you investigate something directly, without using the preposition 'about'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to study a subject or a problem carefully to discover new information.
to conduct a systematic study or research into a particular subject, phenomenon, or scientific principle.
Simple“Scientists are investigating how the new medicine affects the heart.”
In context“The research team plans to investigate the long-term environmental impact of plastic waste on deep-sea ecosystems over the next decade.”
UsageCommonly followed by a 'how', 'why', or 'whether' clause in academic contexts.
Usage investigate the circumstances · investigate the incident · investigate the researchers
Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from Latin investīgātiō (“a searching into”), from investīgātus, the perfect passive participle of investīgō, equivalent to in- + vestigate. Displaced native Old English undersēċan (literally “to search under or between”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.