Etimology
From Middle English seken (also sechen, whence dialectal English seech), from Old English sēċan (compare beseech); from Proto-West Germanic *sōkijan, from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”). Cognate with West Frisian sykje, Dutch zoeken, Low German söken, German suchen, Danish søge, Icelandic sækja, Norwegian Bokmål søke, Norwegian Nynorsk søkja, Swedish söka. The Middle English and later Modern English hard /k/ derives from Old English sēcð, the third person singular; the forms with /k/ were then reinforced by cognate Old Norse sǿkja.
verb
seek (third-person singular simple present seeks, present participle seeking, simple past and past participle sought)
(transitive, intransitive) To try to find; to look for; to search for.
(transitive) To ask for; to solicit; to beseech.
(transitive) To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at.
(intransitive, obsolete) To go, move, travel (in a given direction).
(transitive) To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.
(intransitive, sometimes proscribed) To attempt, endeavour, try
(intransitive, computing) To navigate through a stream.
Examples
I seek wisdom.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. […] A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
Synonyms: look for, search for
I seek forgiveness through repentance.
Others, tempting him, sought of him a sign.
“My, my! It is indeed a long way yet, look you!” said the pleasant woman of whom I sought directions.
I sought my fortune on the goldfields.
But persecution sought the lives of men of this character.
I can no longer seek fame or glory, nor can I help trying to get rid of my riches, which separate me from my fellow-creatures.
Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
Ryght so he sought […] towarde Sandewyche where he founde before hym many galyard knyghtes
When the alarm went off I sought the exit in a panic.
Seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
Since great Ulysses sought the Phrygian plains
Our company does not seek to limit its employees from using the internet or engaging in social networking.
Synonym: scrub
Most of the changes made to this control are to accommodate the various constraints that playback of streaming media may impose in broadcast streams, such as the inability to seek through the media.
Related words
related terms
hide and seek
seeker
noun
seek (plural seeks)
(computing) The operation of navigating through a stream.
Examples
The number of seeks to retrieve a shot […] depends on the location of those frames on physical blocks.