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verb

descry

to catch sight of something, especially at a distance

In a sentence

Six example sentences with descry, each labelled with its topic.

  • Only after enlarging the negative could she descry a second figure standing in the doorway behind the bride.

    Photography

  • From the ferry rail we descried the lighthouse an hour before the coastline itself resolved out of the haze.

    Travel

  • The narrator climbs the dune at dawn and descries a sail no other character will notice for chapters.

    Literature

  • The lookout on the headland descried the fleet at dawn and lit the beacon that carried the news inland.

    History

  • With the new telescope astronomers could descry a faint moon that earlier instruments had smeared into the planet's glow.

    Science

  • From the hide we descried a single crane far across the marsh, a grey line against the reeds.

    Environment

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Found in these word lists

Found in 2 published word listsRecognized

Each source is a published word list that contains descry. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

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