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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

finder en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈfaɪndəɹ/ (General-American)
  • /ˈfaɪndə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English findere. By surface analysis, find + -er.

Meanings

  1. One who finds or discovers something; a discoverer.
    • Finders keepers, losers weepers.
    • The finder of treasure trove owns it against the landowner and everyone else except the true owner. 2012, Alan R. Romero, Property Law For Dummies, page 229:
  2. A device, such as a viewfinder, used to locate a target or other object of interest.
    • Perhaps some electrical finder could have been developed so delicate that it could have located the source of all this spreading joy and fortune. 1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row:
  3. (UK, historical) A person who picks up scraps and oddments to sell to make a living.
    • Even the Whitechapel meat-market is less the scene of prey, for it is a series of shops, while Leadenhall presents many stalls, and the finders seem loath to enter shops without some plausible pretext. 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
finders Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

comet-finder · radio direction finder · wayfinder · finder of fact · object finder · witch-finder · ditchfinder · pure finder · stud finder · finderscope · witchfinder · range finder · ugly-finder · gold-finder · Albada finder · statefinder · rootfinder · fact-finder · viewfinder · factfinder · finderlist · waterfinder · pathfinder · rangefinder · faultfinder · fishfinder · fire finder · ugly finder · key finder