Boarding and inspecting a ship on the high seas; "right of search" the examination of alternative hypotheses; "his search for a move that would avoid checkmate was unsuccessful" an operation that determines whether one or more of a set of items has a specified property; "they wrote a program to do a table lookup" an investigation seeking answers; "a thorough search of the ledgers revealed nothing"; "the outcome justified the search" the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone subject to a search; "The police searched the suspect"; "We searched the whole house for the missing keys" inquire into; "the students had to research the history of the Second World War for their history project"; "He searched for information on his relatives on the web"; "Scientists are exploring the nature of consciousness" search or seek; "We looked all day and finally found the child in the forest"; "Look elsewhere for the perfect gift!" try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the missing man in the entire county"
A critically important or characteristic component; "suspense is the very stuff of narrative" information in some unspecified form; "it was stuff I had heard before"; "there's good stuff in that book" unspecified qualities required to do or be something; "the stuff of heros"; "you don't have the stuff to be a United States Marine" senseless talk; "don't give me that stuff" informal terms for personal possessions; "did you take all your clobber?" miscellaneous unspecified objects; "the trunk was full of stuff" the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat is the stuff they use to make bread" fill with a stuffing while cooking; "Have you stuffed the turkey yet?" fill tightly with a material; "stuff a pillow with feathers"; "The old lady wants to have her dead poodle stuffed by the taxidermist" treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting; "stuff a bearskin" overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself; "She stuffed herself at the dinner"; "The kids binged on icecream" obstruct; "My nose is all stuffed"; "Her arteries are blocked" press or force; "Stuff money into an envelope"; "She thrust the letter into his hand" fill completely; "The child stuffed his pockets with candy"
An advantageous purchase; "she got a bargain at the auction"; "the stock was a real buy at that price" be worth or be capable of buying; "This sum will buy you a ride on the train" accept as true; "I can't buy this story" acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange; "She wanted to buy his love with her dedication to him and his work" make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence; "This judge can be bought" obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; "She buys for the big department store"