2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Discover  \Dis*cov"er\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Discovered};  p.  pr 
  &  vb  n.  {Discovering}.]  [OE.  discoveren,  discuren,  descuren 
  OF  descovrir  descouvrir  F.  d['e]couvrir;  des-  (L.  dis-)  + 
  couvrir  to  cover.  See  {Cover}.] 
  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). 
 
  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. 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  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}] 

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