probe

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See also: Probe, probé, and próbę

English

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Etymology

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For verb: borrowed from Latin probare (“to test, examine, prove”), from probus (“good”). Doublet of prove.

For noun: borrowed from Late Latin proba (“a proof”), from probare (“to test, examine, prove”); Doublet of proof. Compare Spanish tienta (“a surgeon's probe”), from tentar (“try, test”); see tempt.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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probe (plural probes)

  1. (surgery) Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc. [from 15th c.]
    1. (comedy, fiction) An anal probe, a fictional instrument commonly used by aliens on abducted humans.
      • 2004 August 2, Bayard Russell, nonemorecomic‎[1]:
        You know, XR178.9, we haven't done any anal probes in a while.
      • 2009 September 14, Ryan Hudson, “Can I Abduct You?”, in ChannelATE‎[2]:
        You listen here! We don't do anal probes like other aliens, but I'm about to make an exception!
  2. (figuratively) Something which penetrates something else, as though to explore; something which obtains information. [from 17th c.]
    • 1973 August 4, J. Ralf Green, “The Hossenpfepper Column”, in Gay Community News, page 3:
      Silverberg also gives the reader reader some excellent character insight; deep probes into the minds of all the principals bring the reader closer to the persons involved than might be thought possible with the plot so far removed from the realm of normality.
  3. An act of probing; a prod, a poke. [from 19th c.]
  4. (figuratively) An investigation or inquiry. [from 20th c.]
    They launched a probe into the cause of the accident.
  5. (aeronautics) A tube attached to an aircraft which can be fitted into the drogue from a tanker aircraft to allow for aerial refuelling. [from 20th c.]
  6. (sciences) A small device, especially an electrode, used to explore, investigate or measure something by penetrating or being placed in it. [from 20th c.]
    Insert the probe into the soil and read the temperature.
  7. (astronautics) A small, usually uncrewed, spacecraft used to acquire information or measurements about its surroundings. [from 20th c.]
  8. (go) A move with multiple possible answers, seeking to make the opponent choose and commit to a strategy.
  9. (biochemistry) Any group of atoms or molecules radioactively labeled in order to study a given molecule or other structure

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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probe (third-person singular simple present probes, present participle probing, simple past and past participle probed)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To explore, investigate, question, test, or prove.
    If you probe further, you may discover different reasons.
    • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
      the growing disposition to probe the legality of all acts of the crown
    • 2019, Chris Meyer, (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎[3], page 116:
      It was exhilarating to watch him share a meal and then probe deeper into the cultures, the politics, and the heartbeat of the people of the city or country he was in. He seemed so learned, but not in any pretentious way.
  2. (transitive) To insert a probe into.
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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Asturian

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Adjective

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probe (epicene, plural probes)

  1. poor

Derived terms

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Galician

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Verb

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probe

  1. inflection of probar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

German

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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probe

  1. inflection of proben:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
    3. singular imperative

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈprɔ.be/
  • Rhymes: -ɔbe
  • Hyphenation: prò‧be

Adjective

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probe

  1. feminine plural of probo

Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *proβwēd.

Adverb

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probē (comparative probius, superlative probissimē)

  1. well, rightly, properly, correctly, fitly, opportunely, excellently

Adjective

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probe

  1. vocative masculine singular of probus

References

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  • “probe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “probe”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • probe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

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Etymology

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Metathesized from pobre.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈpɾobe/ [ˈpɾo.β̞e]
  • Rhymes: -obe
  • Syllabification: pro‧be

Adjective

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probe m or f (masculine and feminine plural probes)

  1. (obsolete outside New Mexico) Alternative form of pobre
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