Discover \Dis*cov"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discovered; p. pr. & vb. n. Discovering.]

[OE. discoveren, discuren, descuren, OF. descovrir, descouvrir, F. d['e]couvrir; des- (L. dis-) + couvrir to cover. See Cover.]

1. To uncover. [Obs.]

Whether any man hath pulled down or discovered any church. --Abp. Grindal.

2. To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown).

Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince. --Shak.

Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue. --Bacon.

We will discover ourselves unto them. --1 Sam. xiv. 8.

Discover not a secret to another. --Prov. xxv. 9.

3. To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect.

Some to discover islands far away. --Shak.

4. To manifest without design; to show.

The youth discovered a taste for sculpture. --C. J. Smith.

5. To explore; to examine. [Obs.]

Syn: To disclose; bring out; exhibit; show; manifest; reveal; communicate; impart; tell; espy; find; out; detect. -- To Discover, Invent. We discover what existed before, but remained unknown; we invent by forming combinations which are either entirely new, or which attain their end by means unknown before. Columbus discovered America; Newton discovered the law of gravitation; Whitney invented the cotton gin; Galileo invented the telescope.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)