peruse

peruse

read through thoroughly; examine in detail: peruse a map

Not to be confused with:

pursue – trail, hunt; follow close upon: pursue the escapee; continue to discuss or study: pursue the options; go on with: pursue an education

pe·ruse

 (pə-ro͞oz′)

tr.v. pe·rused, pe·rus·ing, pe·rus·es

1. To read or examine, typically with great care.

2. Usage Problem To glance over; skim.

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[Middle English perusen, to use up : Latin per-, per- + Middle English usen, to use; see use.]

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pe·rus′a·ble adj.

pe·rus′al n.

pe·rus′er n.

Usage Note: Peruse has long meant "to read thoroughly," as in He perused the contract until he was satisfied that it met all of his requirements, which was acceptable to 75 percent of the Usage Panel in our 2011 survey. But the word is often used more loosely, to mean simply "to read," as in The librarians checked to see which titles had been perused in the last month and which ones had been left untouched. Seventy percent of the Panel rejected this example in 1999, but only 39 percent rejected it in 2011. Further extension of the word to mean "to glance over, skim" has traditionally been considered an error, but our ballot results suggest that it is becoming somewhat more acceptable. When asked about the sentence I only had a moment to peruse the manual quickly, 66 percent of the Panel found it unacceptable in 1988, 58 percent in 1999, and 48 percent in 2011. Use of the word outside of reading contexts, as in We perused the shops in the downtown area, is often considered a mistake.

peruse

(pəˈruːz)

vb (tr)

1. to read or examine with care; study

2. to browse or read through in a leisurely way

[C15 (meaning: to use up): from per- (intensive) + use]

peˈrusal n

peˈruser n

pe•ruse

(pəˈruz)

v.t. -rused, -rus•ing.

1. to read through with thoroughness or care: to peruse a report.

2. to read in an often desultory way.

3. to survey or examine in detail.

[1525–35; earlier, to use up, go through; per- + use]

pe•rus′a•ble, adj.

pe•rus′er, n.

peruse

Past participle: perused
Gerund: perusing

Imperative

peruse

peruse

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

peruse - examine or consider with attention and in detail; "Please peruse this report at your leisure" examine, see - observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect; "The customs agent examined the baggage"; "I must see your passport before you can enter the country" leaf, riff, riffle, thumb, flick, flip - look through a book or other written material; "He thumbed through the report"; "She leafed through the volume"

peruse

verb read, study, scan, check, examine, inspect, browse, look through, eyeball (slang), work over, scrutinize, run your eye over She was perusing a copy of Life magazine.

peruse

verb

To look at carefully or critically:

check (out), con, examine, go over, inspect, scrutinize, study, survey, traverse, view.

Informal: case.

Idiom: give a going-over.

Translations

tarkastelututkiatutkimus

jeter un coup d'oeil

lesalesa gaumgæfilega

leggere attentamenteLettura

examinarlertodo

peruse

[pəˈruːz] VT [+ book, menu] → leer detenidamente, examinar con detenimiento; [+ crowd] → examinar con detenimiento; [+ exhibition] → ver con detenimiento

peruse

[pə^rˈuːz] vt (= read) → consulter

peruse

vt → (durch)lesen; (carefully) → sorgfältig durchsehen, prüfen

peruse

[pəˈruːz] vt → leggere