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find out (third-person singular simple present finds out, present participle finding out, simple past and past participle found out)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To discover, as by asking or investigating.

   Synonym: get at

   I don't know who the twenty-first president of the United States was, but it should be very easy to find out.

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "Why shouldn't somethin' new and wonderful lie in such a country? And why shouldn't we be the men to find it out?"

   • 2014 October 27, Taylor Swift, Ryan Tedder, “I Know Places (Taylor's Version)”, in 1989 (Taylor's Version)‎^[1], performed by Taylor Swift, published 27 October 2023:

     Somethin' happens when everybody finds out
     See the vultures circling, dark clouds

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

     I haven't booked, so I don't have a clue as to whether the service will be busy or not. Supposedly, reservations are compulsory, but I want to find out what would happen if you just turn up.

2. (transitive) To discover or expose (someone) as disobedient, dishonest, etc.

   He had been fiddling the books for years, but finally he was found out.

3. (transitive) To uncover a weakness in (someone).

   He may cope with the multiple choice questions, but the written exam will find him out.

   If you don't try, you do not find it out.

4. (archaic) To discover (something), as by perceiving or coming upon it.
5. (intransitive, slang) To receive the consequences of one's actions.

   With the way he behaved, it's no wonder he found out.

• fuck around and find out

• outfind