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Definition
find out, learn, or determine with certainty (usually by making an effort)- A committee was formed to ascertain the level of public support for a new bike path.
- The slaveholders have been known to send in spies among their slaves, to ascertain their views and feelings in regard to their condition.Douglass, Frederick -- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave
- Looking cautiously round, to ascertain that they were not overheard, the two hags cowered nearer to the fire, and chuckled heartily.Dickens, Charles -- Oliver Twist Or The Parish Boy's Progress
- To ascertain the truth, we focus more intently on the screen.Haruki Murakami -- After Dark
- Every effort should be made to find the secretary, Stangerson, and to ascertain some particulars of the habits of the deceased.Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan -- A Study In Scarlet
- See first that the design is wise and just: that ascertained, pursue it resolutely;William Shakespeare
- They returned without being able to ascertain anything.Irving, Washington -- The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the far West
- "But we—" she glanced at him as if to ascertain his position, "we see each other only now and then—"Woolf, Virginia -- Night and Day
- Whether any boats visited the bay that morning or not, I never could ascertain.Melville, Herman -- Typee
- She felt a morbid desire to ascertain the point.Hawthorne, Nathaniel -- The Scarlet Letter
- A reconnoitring party was sent up the river to ascertain the truth of the report.Irving, Washington -- Astoria or Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains
- Suppose I see two individuals approaching whose rank I wish to ascertain.Abbott, Edwin -- Flatland
- But, as the reader of this will have ascertained (if there ever is a reader) the idea of being Dragged Down holds no terror for me.Donna Tartt -- The Goldfinch
- Sam stopped at one that offered maps, and looked over a hand-drawn map of Citadel to ascertain the shortest way to the Seneschal's Court.George R.R. Martin -- A Feast For Crows
- Why she was so busy it was hard to ascertain; she had an excellent housekeeper, a noble butler, and two nurses for the baby.Sinclair Lewis -- Arrowsmith
- Would the two, for his enlightenment, try to ascertain just what they had in common, and why they belonged to the same party?Upton Sinclair -- The Jungle
- "Yes, we came up that way," he said, after ascertaining his bearings.Thomas Hardy -- The Mayor of Casterbridge
- And by this ascertained standard, White Fang treated them accordingly.Jack London -- White Fang
- Though the night was dark and dismal, yet the form of the unknown might now in some degree be ascertained.Washington Irving -- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Before we begin to descend the cliff, you shall creep down to the hut, as noiselessly as possible, and ascertain if the traitor royalists are there?Baroness Orczy -- The Scarlet Pimpernel
ascertain = find out or learn