exploratory — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Serving to explore or investigate.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Meanwhile, for those who doubted the sheer breadth of music Glastonbury offers, a short walk took you from Thundercat’s exploratory, spaced-out take on jazz-funk – where the smooth sound of yacht rock crashed into extended passages of improvisation to thrilling effect – to the aforementioned Craig David, clad entirely in white and padding out his set by the simple expedient of playing other people’s records and singing along to them, and thence to Liam Gallagher on the comeback trail.

   Among other work done, according to the letter: CPR replaced the bottom of a deteriorating stair column base with hollow steel structural sections; conducted exploratory demolition on the underside of an eave that required “removal and reconstruction”; and removed all loose “cracked, spalled, deteriorated, and delaminated concrete” and damaged stucco from the underside of balcony eaves on 114 of the building’s 136 units, the letter said.

Noun

1. An exploration or investigation.

Adjective

1. serving in or intended for exploration or discovery

   Synonyms

   explorative

   Antonyms

   nonexploratory

   Examples

   an exploratory operation

   exploratory reconnaissance

   More examples (2)

   digging an exploratory well in the Gulf of Mexico

   exploratory talks between diplomats