All 5 Uses of
scrutiny
in
The Purloined Letter
- ...then we scrutinized each individual square inch throughout the premises,
*scrutinized = looked at very carefullystandard suffix: The suffix "-ize" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.
- We also measured the thickness of every book-cover, with the most accurate admeasurement, and applied to each the most jealous scrutiny of the microscope.†
- What is all this boring, and probing, and sounding, and scrutinizing with the microscope and dividing the surface of the building into registered square inches—what is it all but an exaggeration of the application of the one principle or set of principles of search, which are based upon the one set of notions regarding human ingenuity, to which the Prefect, in the long routine of his duty, has been accustomed?†
- Here, however, after a long and very deliberate scrutiny, I saw nothing to excite particular suspicion.†
- In scrutinizing the edges of the paper, I observed them to be more chafed than seemed necessary.†
Definition:
-
(scrutiny) careful examination of something