• Seek

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /siːk/, sÄ“k
    • Homophones: Sikh
    • Rhymes: -iːk

    Origin

    From Middle English seken (also sechen), from Old English sēċan ("to seek; try to find, to look for, make search for; try to get; strive to effect, aim at, strive after; seek after, try to provide for; try to find out by investigation or examination; enquire about; try to learn by asking, ask, ask for, inquire; look to for, expect from; visit, go to; resort to; go, move, proceed; approach, attain to; attack, pursue, follow"), with influence from Old Norse sœkja, whence the hard /k/ sound (compare beseech); both from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną ("to seek") (compare West Frisian sykje, Low German söken, Dutch zoeken, German suchen, Danish søge). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ("to seek out").

    Full definition of seek

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To try to find, to look for, to search.
      I seek wisdom.
      • 2013, Catherine Clabby, Focus on Everything, Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus....A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
    2. (transitive) To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to beseech.
      I seek forgiveness through prayer.
      • Bible, Luke xi. 16Others, tempting him, sought of him a sign.
      • 1960, Lobsang Rampa, :“My, my! It is indeed a long way yet, look you!” said the pleasant woman of whom I sought directions.
    3. (transitive) To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at.
      I sought my fortune on the goldfields.
      • 1880, George Q. Cannon, :But persecution sought the lives of men of this character.
      • 1886, Constantine Popoff, translation of Leo Tolstoy's :I can no longer seek fame or glory, nor can I help trying to get rid of my riches, which separate me from my fellow-creatures.
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes....She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
    4. (intransitive, obsolete) To go, move, travel (in a given direction).
      When the alarm went off I sought the exit in a panic.
    5. (transitive) To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.

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