Discern (Verb)
Meaning
Detect with the senses; "The fleeing convicts were picked out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards"; "I can't make out the faces in this photograph".
Classification
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling.
Examples
- She strained her eyes to discern the figure looming in the shadows at the edge of the road.
- The smell of gas was hard to discern from the strong odors of the city streets at night.
- The crew had to use specialized equipment to discern shapes on the dark ocean floor.
- It's difficult to discern the speaker's voice when the room is so noisy and crowded.
- I had trouble trying to discern the faint sound of the doorbell over the TV.