搜寻

• Pinyin: sōu xún
• Hanzi breakdown: 搜 = 扌(hand radical) + 叟 (to search carefully); 寻 = 彐 + 工 + 寸 (to seek, to look for)

Meaning

To search for something or someone in a thorough and systematic manner. Implies persistence and the covering of a wide area or multiple sources in the course of searching.

More literary and formal than 寻找. Used for searches conducted over a wide area, across a span of time, or through many sources. Common in journalistic, literary, and formal written contexts. Can describe both physical searches and the pursuit of information, meaning, or purpose. Often suggests a prolonged or determined search effort.

Examples

1. 侦探花费数月时间搜寻关键证人的下落，最终在一座偏远的滨海小镇上找到了那位隐姓埋名多年的目击者。 The detective spent months searching for the key witness’s whereabouts and finally found the long-hidden eyewitness, living under an assumed name, in a remote seaside town.
2. 该平台利用人工智能技术，帮助用户在海量数据中精准搜寻所需的学术文献与专业研究报告。 Using AI technology, the platform helps users precisely search massive datasets for the academic literature and specialized research reports they need.
3. 这支考古队正在戈壁深处搜寻一座失落已久的古代城市遗址，期望通过此次发掘揭开那段尘封千年的历史之谜。 This archaeological team is searching deep in the Gobi Desert for the ruins of a long-lost ancient city, hoping the excavation will uncover the mystery of a thousand-year-buried chapter of history.

Usage Guide

Context: literary, investigation, journalism, technology

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 警方向全国发出协查通报，在各地公安机关的配合下展开搜寻工作，锁定并追踪一名涉案在逃人员的行踪。(Police issued a nationwide wanted notice and, with the cooperation of local authorities, launched a search operation to track and locate a suspect who had fled the scene.)
• 这位作家用了三十年时间搜寻父亲的战时日记，最终在欧洲一座档案馆的尘封文件中找到了令他泪流满面的答案。(This writer spent thirty years searching for his father's wartime diary, finally finding the tear-inducing answer among dust-covered documents in a European archive.)

Don't Say

• 搜寻 与 搜查 不同，不含官方执法的强制含义 — 不说'警察搜寻了他的房子'来表达强制检查；执法意义上的搜查应用 搜查

Origin & History

搜 (to search) + 寻 (to seek, to look for) — to search and seek out across a wide range

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal