Word Finder - ascertain

definition

To find out definitely; to discover or establish.

example

As soon as we ascertain what the situation is, we can plan how to proceed.

synonyms

• determine
• discover
• establish
• find out
• learn
• work out

definition

To make (someone) certain or confident about something; to inform.

definition

To establish, to prove.

definition

To ensure or effect.

He could not ascertain the truth.

I immediately instituted an inquiry to ascertain the facts in the case.

Please ascertain who has responsibility for this footpath.

You need to ascertain which is suitable for your safe dining.

Paraffin wax is tested for melting-point (or setting-point), and the semi-refined product is further examined to ascertain the percentage of oil, water and dirt present.

I first tried to ascertain what had suggested to Helen's mind the particular fancies which made her story seem like a reproduction of one written by Miss Margaret Canby.

On one occasion he asked the critics to ascertain the brand of whisky favoured by Grant, so that he could send kegs of it to the other generals.

It is difficult to ascertain whether the name was taken from the reputed founder of that sect, a certain pope Bogumil or Bogomil, or whether he assumed that name after it had been given to the whole sect.

It was not possible to ascertain compliance with the legislation.

Poulton, in an admirable discussion of contemporary views regarding species (presidential address to the Entomological Society of London 1904), has shown that Darwin did not believe in the objective existence of species, not only because he was led to discard the hypothesis of special creation as the explanation of the polymorphism of life, but because in practice as a working systematist he could neither find for himself nor ascertain from other systematists any settled criteria by which a group of specimens could be elevated into a genus, accepted as a species, or regarded as a variety.

It is only during winter and in high latitudes that we can hope to ascertain anything directly as to the real diurnal variation of the causes whose influence is visible at night as aurora.

Notwithstanding the great development which he gave to his work and the almost unprecedented amount of discussion to which it gave rise, it remains a matter of some difficulty to discover what solid contribution he has made to our knowledge, nor is it easy to ascertain precisely what practical precepts, not already familiar, he founded on his theoretic principles.

The uses of an electroscope are, first, to ascertain if any body is in a state of electrification, and secondly, to indicate the sign of that charge.

Silk in the raw and thrown state absorbs a large amount of moisture, and may contain a percentage of water without being manifestly damp. As it is largely sold by weight it becomes necessary to ascertain its condition in respect of absorbed water, and for that purpose official conditioning houses are established in all the considerable centres of silk trade.

He offered, as the last hope, to become a Roman Catholic, and this might possibly have proved successful, but the priests sent by James to ascertain.

The name of Kalamantan has been given by some Europeans (on what original authority it is not possible now to ascertain) as the native name for the island of Borneo considered as a whole; but it is safe to aver that among the natives of the island itself Borneo has never borne any general designation.

By examining the senses in which the respective forces act at each joint we can ascertain which members are in tension and which are in thrust; in fig.

It is impossible to ascertain the numbers of properly Russian Baptists.

In like manner we may by experiment ascertain the general fact that the surface of a liquid is in a state of tension similar to that of a membrane stretched equally in all directions, and prove that this tension depends only on the nature and temperature of the liquid and not on its form, and from this as a secondary physical principle we may deduce all the phenomena of capillary action.

In such a case the first essential in determining the yield is to ascertain the rainfall.

Great pains appear to have been taken to ascertain that the cavernous portions of the rock had been cut out and built up before the building was begun.

This board is required to visit each of the institutions at least once a year to ascertain its condition and needs, and all proposed appropriations for their support, plans of buildings, proposed systems of sewerage, ventilation and heating must be submitted to it.

Each instrument in which the word is used must be studied in order to ascertain its significance.

Under the Allotments Acts 1887 to 1907, it is the duty of a county council to ascertain the extent to which there is a demand for Allot allotments in the urban districts and parishes in the county,.

By the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1907, Small Holdings Commissioners are appointed by the Board of Agriculture to ascertain the extent of the demand for small holdings, and confer Small .

In 1848 a circular was sent by the 3rd Earl Grey, then colonial secretary, to the governor of the Cape (and to other colonial governors), asking him to ascertain the feelings of the colonists regarding the reception of a certain class of convicts, the intention being to send to South Africa Irish peasants who had been driven into crime by the famine of 1845.

So far as the writer has been able to observe or ascertain, there are very few masonry dams in Europe or America which have not been cracked transversely in their higher parts.

It is this leakage line that the waterworks engineer uses to ascertain the truth as to the leakage and to assist him in its suppression.

Therefore by graduating the top of the beam and shifting a rider grain weight till the beam is horizontal, it is easy to ascertain the small difference of weight in the scale-pans which caused the de - flection to the T foth or i.

So that if, for example, a fishmonger uses such a machine to ascertain the weight of a piece of fish which he places in the goods - pan, and thereby depresses it down upon its stop, and then places weights in the weights-pan till the goods-pan rises, the customer is charged for more than the real weight of the fish.

A useful application of weighbridges is to ascertain the exact weights on the separate wheels of locomotive engines, so that they may be properly adjusted.

This involves a minute investigation of the history of that battle, to ascertain if there are any authentic traces of this incident, or any opportunity for it to have taken place.

The function of a judge in a criminal as in a civil action was to see that the facts, with modifying circumstances, were fully and truly submitted to him, and then by applying the law to these facts to ascertain and declare the amount of compensation that would make a legal adjustment.

He understood it to be the first duty of an exegete to ascertain the meaning of the writer, and he showed that this could be done by the use of grammar and history and the historical imagination.

It is, however, in the impulse given to practical beneficence in all its forms, by the exaltation of love as the root of all virtues, that the most important influence of Christianity on the particulars of civilized morality is to be found; p y although the exact amount of this influence is here somewhat difficult to ascertain, since it merely carries further a development traceable in the history of pagan morality.

In fact, no acceptable scientific criterion emerges, and the outcome of Spencer's attempt to ascertain the laws of life and the conditions of existence is either a restatement of the dictates of the moral consciousness in vague and cumbrous quasi-scientific phraseology, or the substitution of the meaningless test of " survivability " as a standard of perfection for the usual and intelligible standards of " good " and " right."

Therefore, though we may ascertain that Zeus means " sky " and Agni " fire," we cannot assert, with Max Muller, that all the myths about Agni and Zeus were originally told of fire and sky.

To some extent, the individual came in for his share in the incantations and in the purification ritual through which one might hope to rid oneself of the power of the demons and of other evil spirits, but outside of this the important aim of the priests was to secure for the general benefit the favour of the gods, or, as a means of preparing oneself for what the future had in store, to ascertain in time whether that favour would be granted in any particular instance or would be continued in the future.

Then the denominator of the fraction, the numerical aperture, must be correspondingly increased, in order to ascertain the real resolving power.

To ascertain this value the volatile acids contained in 5 grammes of an oil or fat are distilled in a minutely prescribed manner, and the distilled-off acids are measured by titration with decinormal alkali.

The methods sketched here do not yet exhaust the armoury of the analytical chemist, but it can only be pointed out in passing that the detection of hydroxylated acids enables the analyst to ascertain the presence of castor oil, just as the isolation and determination of oxidized fatty acids enables him to differentiate blown oils from other oils.

Gathering together a reconnaissance team, MacReady investigates the now desolate Norwegian camp to ascertain the source of their madness.

If you deposit collateral as security with your bookmaker, you should ascertain from your bookmaker how your collateral as security with your bookmaker, you should ascertain from your bookmaker how your collateral will be dealt with.

However, few researchers have studied infants beyond discharge to ascertain what impact the encounter has on mother-infant dyads.

He soon managed to ascertain that the chief had an old grudge against a neighboring chief.

A person when exercising a lien must ascertain whether his contractual lien is a general lien or a particular lien.

What can forensic linguistics do to ascertain whether her claim is genuine or not?

These images can then be analyzed to ascertain what normal elephant locomotion is like.

The official receiver should ascertain that all policies held by the mortgagee are either formally charged or that there is an equitable charge.

Take a front/back (anterior posterior) X-ray to ascertain whether the problem is in the left or right or both lungs.