What does "seek" mean?

1. (to look for) to try to find something or someone. 2. (to ask for) to ask for help, advice, or permission. 3. (to try to achieve) to try to get or achieve something, like a goal or a new job. 4. (to navigate data) to move to a specific part of a video, audio file, or computer data. 5. (data navigation) the act of moving to a specific point in a digital file.

seek

v. · n.

US //ˈsik// UK //sˈiːk// seek

Irregular verb past sought past participle sought

1 to look for (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to try to find something or someone.

to search for or try to locate a person, place, or object.

Example

The hikers had to seek shelter when the storm suddenly began.

Example

The researchers traveled to the remote archipelago to seek rare plant species that had not been documented for over a century.
- search
- hunt
- look for
- hide
- lose
2 to ask for (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Formal

to ask for help, advice, or permission.

to request or solicit something from another person or authority.

Example

You should seek legal advice before you sign the contract.

Example

The diplomat was instructed to seek an audience with the prime minister to discuss the escalating border dispute.

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3 to try to achieve (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

to try to get or achieve something, like a goal or a new job.

to strive after or attempt to acquire a non-physical objective.

Example

Many young people move to the city to seek their fortune.

Example

The company continues to seek innovative ways to reduce its carbon footprint while maintaining high production levels.
- abandon
- shun
4 to navigate data (v.)
C1 Advanced Technical Computing

to move to a specific part of a video, audio file, or computer data.

to move a read head or pointer to a specific location within a data stream or on a storage device.

Example

The video player allows you to seek to any timestamp instantly.

Example

The application experienced significant latency because the hard drive had to seek across multiple sectors to retrieve the fragmented file.
- navigate
- scan
5 data navigation (n.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

the act of moving to a specific point in a digital file.

the operation of moving a pointer or playback head to a specific position in a stream.

Example

The slow seek time on the old disk made the computer feel very laggy.

Example

Optimizing the database reduced the number of random seeks required, significantly improving the overall query performance.
- search
- access

Origin

From Middle English seken (also sechen, whence dialectal English seech), from Old English sēċan (compare beseech); from Proto-West Germanic sōkijan, from Proto-Germanic sōkijaną (“to seek”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian säike (“to seek”), West Frisian sykje (“to seek”), Dutch zoeken (“to seek”), Low German söken (“to seek”), German suchen (“to seek”), Danish søge (“to seek”), Swedish söka, Norwegian Bokmål søke (“to seek”), Norwegian Nynorsk søkja (“to seek”), Icelandic sækja (“to seek”). The Middle English and later Modern English hard /k/ derives from Old English sēcð, the third person singular; the forms with /k/ were then reinforced by cognate Old Norse sǿkja.