Meaning of probe In English

• 0 to try to discover information that other people do not want you to know, by asking questions carefully and not directly:

  • The interviewer probed deep into her private life.

  • Detectives questioned him for hours, probing for any inconsistencies in his story.

  • The article probes (= tries to describe and explain) the mysteries of nationalism in modern Europe.

  • They probed in/into the mud with a special drill.

• 1 an attempt to discover information by asking a lot of questions:

  • an FBI probe into corruption

  • a Justice Department probe into the Democrats' fund raising

• 2 to search into or examine something:

  • [ I ] Investigators are probing into new evidence in the case.

  • [ T ] Using a special instrument, the doctor probed the wound for the bullet.

• 3 a careful and detailed examination:

  • The probe explored allegations of corruption in the police department.

• 4 the process of asking questions and examining facts in a situation, often in order to discover information that someone may be hiding:

  • corruption/criminal/federal probe Alarm bells rang around the City after the investment bank revealed it had widened its accounting probes.

  • a probe into sth The fund manager was arrested following a probe into alleged corruption.

  • launch/conduct/open a probe The Swiss Banking Commission is conducting a probe into possible insider dealing.

• 5 to try to discover information about a situation by asking questions and examining facts:

  • probe into sth High-end investors began to probe into the fund's performance and demanded better returns.

  • He says the problems prompted him as a journalist to probe deeper, even after the issues disappeared from the media.