exploration
Venturing into unknown
Exploration is the act of traveling through unfamiliar territory to learn what's there.
Early European exploration mapped coastlines and trade routes.
The word extends to any systematic investigation of the unknown: space exploration, exploration of new ideas, oil exploration.
To explore a topic is to examine it thoroughly.
Exploratory describes preliminary investigation: exploratory surgery, exploratory talks.
Organized exploratory journey
- questSeeking journey for something
- odysseyExtended adventurous journey
- voyageJourney by sea
- trekArduous overland journey
safari · pioneering · trailblazer · uncharted · wilderness · adventurer · journey · navigate
Travel from place to place
- voyageJourney by sea
- tourismLeisure travel sector
- itineraryPlanned sequence of destinations
- backpackingSelf-supported wilderness travel
sightseeing · globetrotting · wanderlust · trekking · sojourn · excursion · traverse · roaming
Systematic fact-finding effort
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- dataFacts for analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
methodology · empirical · laboratory · study · observation · measurement · findings · fieldwork
Request for information
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- fascinationIntense absorbed interest
- inquisitivenessEager desire to learn
probing · pondering · contemplation · delving · novelty · interest · eagerness · seeking
Request for information
- probeThorough examination or tool
- scrutinyClose, careful examination
- examinationMethodical assessment or review
- inspectionFormal assessment of condition
fact-finding · audit · review · sifting · forensic · detective · sleuthing · reconnaissance
Sudden important advance
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
- epiphanySudden profound insight
- uncoveringRevealing something hidden
- findLocate through effort
unearthing · serendipity · eureka · unveiling · detection · decipherment · finding · locating
Searching for mineral wealth
- miningExtracting earth's resources
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- drillingHole-making by rotation
- extractionAct of removing
deposits · reconnaissance · scouting · geological · assaying · sampling · wildcatting · claim
expedition
Organized exploratory journey
trek · safari · pioneering · trailblazer · uncharted · wilderness · adventurer · journey · navigate · excursion
journey
Travel from place to place
backpacking · sightseeing · globetrotting · wanderlust · trekking · sojourn · excursion · traverse · roaming · cruising
research
Systematic fact-finding effort
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- dataFacts for analysis
analysis · methodology · empirical · laboratory · study · observation · measurement · findings · fieldwork · sampling
inquiry
Request for information
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- fascinationIntense absorbed interest
inquisitiveness · probing · pondering · contemplation · delving · novelty · interest · eagerness · seeking · openness
inquiry
Request for information
- probeThorough examination or tool
- scrutinyClose, careful examination
- examinationMethodical assessment or review
inspection · fact-finding · audit · review · sifting · forensic · detective · sleuthing · reconnaissance · assessment
breakthrough
Sudden important advance
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
- epiphanySudden profound insight
- uncoveringRevealing something hidden
find · unearthing · serendipity · eureka · unveiling · detection · decipherment · finding · locating · encountering
prospecting
Searching for mineral wealth
- miningExtracting earth's resources
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- drillingHole-making by rotation
extraction · deposits · reconnaissance · scouting · geological · assaying · sampling · wildcatting · claim · strike
- explorationexpedition, expeditions, voyage, voyages, journey
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- American frontierfrontier, westward expansion, pioneers, homesteading, homesteads
- Americas HistoryAmerican Revolution, Aztec Empire, colonial era, colonization, Columbus
- scientific progressinventions, scientific expeditions, natural history, geology, botany
- action-adventurecombat, treasure, quest, hero, villain
explorationstagnation
Absence of flow or progress
staying put · settlement · sedentariness · immobility · rootedness
explorationavoidance
Deliberate keeping away
incuriosity · closed-mindedness · fear of the unknown · xenophobia · insularity
- space explorationInvestigating the cosmos beyond Earth
- polar explorationTravel to icy extremes
- wilderness explorationJourneying through undeveloped natural areas
- Age of ExplorationPeriod of global seafaring
- ocean explorationStudying the seas firsthand
- deep sea explorationStudying oceanic abysses