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Ascertain   /ˌæsərtˈeɪn/   Listen
verb
Ascertain  v. t.  (past & past part. ascertained; pres. part. ascertaining)  
1.
To render (a person) certain; to cause to feel certain; to make confident; to assure; to apprise. (Obs.) "When the blessed Virgin was so ascertained." "Muncer assured them that the design was approved of by Heaven, and that the Almighty had in a dream ascertained him of its effects."
2.
To make (a thing) certain to the mind; to free from obscurity, doubt, or change; to make sure of; to fix; to determine. (Archaic) "The divine law... ascertaineth the truth." "The very deferring (of his execution) shall increase and ascertain the condemnation." "The ministry, in order to ascertain a majority... persuaded the queen to create twelve new peers." "The mildness and precision of their laws ascertained the rule and measure of taxation."
3.
To find out or learn for a certainty, by trial, examination, or experiment; to get to know; as, to ascertain the weight of a commodity, or the purity of a metal. "He was there only for the purpose of ascertaining whether a descent on England was practicable."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Ascertain" Quotes from Famous Books



... chapter, my attention has been called to a tourist's account of the Schafloch in Once a Week (Nov. 26, 1864), in an article called An Ice-cavern in the Justis-Thal. The writer says—'We proceeded to the farther end of the cavern, or at least as far as we thought it prudent, to ascertain where the flooring of ice rounded off into the abyss of unfathomable water we heard trickling below.' One of the party 'having taken some large stones with him, he began hurling them into the profound mystery. Presently a heavy ...
— Ice-Caves of France and Switzerland • George Forrest Browne

... which might arise from his residence at Woodstock, and remove any pretext for disturbing his father's family on account of their harbouring one who had been so lately in arms. He had also undertaken, at his own great personal risk, to visit different points on the sea-coast, and ascertain the security of different places for providing shipping for the King's ...
— Woodstock; or, The Cavalier • Sir Walter Scott

... mode, if we mean to conciliate and concede, let us see of what nature the concession ought to be. To ascertain the nature of our concession, we must look at their complaint. The colonies complain that they have not the characteristic mark and seal of British freedom. They complain that they are taxed in a Parliament in which they are not represented. If you mean to satisfy them at all, you must satisfy ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. II. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... slight view which the shortness of the time allowed me to take of the business in question here, I was persuaded that we probably might, in some degree, succeed in our expedition; because, if the course of things here could not be improved by our journey, yet I should consider the being able to ascertain what that state was, as an object very useful to pursue, and one which, if pursued with attention, we might probably succeed in possessing ourselves of. How far we have already obtained this information you will have seen by the communications which we have made; and I much fear that our journey ...
— Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, Volume 2 (of 2) - From the Original Family Documents • The Duke of Buckingham

... for a Russian newspaper with a name that was never twice alike. He was a handsome young Oriental, fond of wandering through unexplored portions of the earth, and he arrived in India from nowhere in particular. At least no living man could ascertain whether it was by way of Balkh, Badakshan, Chitral, Beluchistan, or Nepaul, or anywhere else. The Indian Government, being in an unusually affable mood, gave orders that he was to be civilly treated and shown everything that was to be seen. So he drifted, talking bad English ...
— Life's Handicap • Rudyard Kipling


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