Dis·cov·er v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discovered p. pr. & vb. n. Discovering.]
  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). [Archaic]
  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. [wns=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
     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.
  discovered
       adj 1: no longer concealed; uncovered as by opening a curtain;
              `discovered' is archaic and primarily a theater term;
              "the scene disclosed was of a moonlit forest" [syn: disclosed,
               revealed]
       2: discovered or determined by scientific observation;
          "variation in the ascertained flux depends on a number of
          factors"; "the discovered behavior norms"; "discovered
          differences in achievement"; "no explanation for the
          observed phenomena" [syn: ascertained, observed]