| critical | | |
| adj. | 1. critical | marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws.; "a critical attitude" |
| ~ captious, faultfinding | tending to find and call attention to faults.; "a captious pedant"; "an excessively demanding and faultfinding tutor" |
| ~ censorious | harshly critical or expressing censure.; "was censorious of petty failings" |
| ~ deprecative | given to expressing disapproval. |
| ~ hypercritical, overcritical | inclined to judge too severely.; "hypercritical of colloquial speech"; "the overcritical teacher can discourage originality" |
| ~ searing | severely critical. |
| ~ scathing, vituperative | marked by harshly abusive criticism.; "his scathing remarks about silly lady novelists"; "her vituperative railing" |
| ~ unfavorable, unfavourable | not encouraging or approving or pleasing.; "unfavorable conditions"; "an unfavorable comparison"; "unfavorable comments"; "unfavorable impression" |
| ~ sarcastic | expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds. |
| adj. | 2. critical | at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction.; "a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure"; "critical mass"; "go critical" |
| ~ chemical science, chemistry | the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions. |
| ~ natural philosophy, physics | the science of matter and energy and their interactions.; "his favorite subject was physics" |
| ~ supercritical | (especially of fissionable material) able to sustain a chain reaction in such a manner that the rate of reaction increases. |
| adj. | 3. critical | characterized by careful evaluation and judgment.; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville's writings" |
| ~ appraising, evaluative | exercising or involving careful evaluations.; "looked him over with an appraising eye"; "the literary judge uses many evaluative terms" |
| ~ discriminative, judicial | expressing careful judgment.; "discriminative censure"; "a biography ...appreciative and yet judicial in purpose" |
| ~ discerning | having or revealing keen insight and good judgment.; "a discerning critic"; "a discerning reader" |
| ~ scholarly | characteristic of scholars or scholarship.; "scholarly pursuits"; "a scholarly treatise"; "a scholarly attitude" |
| adj. | 4. critical, vital | urgently needed; absolutely necessary.; "a critical element of the plan"; "critical medical supplies"; "vital for a healthy society"; "of vital interest" |
| ~ indispensable | not to be dispensed with; essential.; "foods indispensable to good nutrition" |
| adj. | 5. critical, decisive | forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis.; "a critical point in the campaign"; "the critical test" |
| ~ crucial, important | of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis.; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women" |
| adj. | 6. critical | being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency.; "a critical shortage of food"; "a critical illness"; "an illness at the critical stage" |
| ~ acute | of critical importance and consequence.; "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds" |
| ~ grievous, life-threatening, dangerous, grave, serious, severe | causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm.; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease" |
| ~ dire, desperate | fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless.; "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"; "a dire emergency" |
| ~ crucial, important | of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis.; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women" |
| adj. (pertain) | 7. critical | of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism.; "critical acclaim" |
| discuss | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. discourse, discuss, talk about | to consider or examine in speech or writing.; "The author talks about the different aspects of this question"; "The class discussed Dante's `Inferno'" |
| ~ deal, plow, handle, treat, cover, address | act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression.; "This book deals with incest"; "The course covered all of Western Civilization"; "The new book treats the history of China" |
| ~ descant | talk at great length about something of one's interest. |
| ~ talk shop | discuss matters that are related to work.; "As soon as they met, the linguists started to talk shop" |
| v. (communication) | 2. discuss, hash out, talk over | speak with others about (something); talk (something) over in detail; have a discussion.; "We discussed our household budget" |
| ~ negotiate, talk terms, negociate | discuss the terms of an arrangement.; "They negotiated the sale of the house" |
| ~ negociate | confer with another in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.; "The parties negociated all night" |
| ~ powwow | hold a powwow, talk, conference or meeting. |
| ~ deliberate, debate | discuss the pros and cons of an issue. |
| ~ deliberate, moot, debate, consider, turn over | think about carefully; weigh.; "They considered the possibility of a strike"; "Turn the proposal over in your mind" |
| ~ bandy, kick around | discuss lightly.; "We bandied around these difficult questions" |
| ~ moderate, chair, lead | preside over.; "John moderated the discussion" |
| ~ advise, counsel, rede | give advice to.; "The teacher counsels troubled students"; "The lawyer counselled me when I was accused of tax fraud" |
| ~ confer, confab, confabulate, consult | have a conference in order to talk something over.; "We conferred about a plan of action" |
| ~ talk of, talk about | discuss or mention.; "They spoke of many things" |
| ~ broach, initiate | bring up a topic for discussion. |
| ~ bandy about | discuss casually.; "bandy about an idea" |
| ~ hammer out, thrash out | discuss vehemently in order to reach a solution or an agreement.; "The leaders of the various Middle Eastern countries are trying to hammer out a peace agreement" |
| examine | | |
| v. (cognition) | 1. analyse, analyze, canvas, canvass, examine, study | consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning.; "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial"; "analyze your real motives" |
| ~ anatomize | analyze down to the smallest detail.; "This writer anatomized the depth of human behavior" |
| ~ diagnose, name | determine or distinguish the nature of a problem or an illness through a diagnostic analysis. |
| ~ diagnose | subject to a medical analysis. |
| ~ survey, appraise | consider in a comprehensive way.; "He appraised the situation carefully before acting" |
| ~ survey | make a survey of; for statistical purposes. |
| ~ compare | examine and note the similarities or differences of.; "John compared his haircut to his friend's"; "We compared notes after we had both seen the movie" |
| ~ check, check into, check out, check over, check up on, suss out, look into, go over | examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition.; "check the brakes"; "Check out the engine" |
| ~ assay | analyze (chemical substances). |
| ~ reexamine, review | look at again; examine again.; "let's review your situation" |
| ~ audit, scrutinise, scrutinize, inspect | examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification.; "audit accounts and tax returns" |
| ~ screen | examine methodically.; "screen the suitcases" |
| ~ trace, follow | follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something.; "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba"; "trace the student's progress" |
| ~ investigate, look into | investigate scientifically.; "Let's investigate the syntax of Chinese" |
| ~ sieve, sift | check and sort carefully.; "sift the information" |
| ~ look at, view, consider | look at carefully; study mentally.; "view a problem" |
| v. (perception) | 2. examine, see | observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect.; "The customs agent examined the baggage"; "I must see your passport before you can enter the country" |
| ~ search | subject to a search.; "The police searched the suspect"; "We searched the whole house for the missing keys" |
| ~ look | perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards.; "She looked over the expanse of land"; "Look at your child!"; "Look--a deer in the backyard!" |
| ~ x-ray | examine by taking x-rays. |
| ~ candle | examine eggs for freshness by holding them against a light. |
| ~ autopsy | perform an autopsy on a dead body; do a post-mortem. |
| ~ auscultate | examine by auscultation. |
| ~ survey | look over carefully or inspect.; "He surveyed his new classmates" |
| ~ glance over, scan, skim, rake, run down | examine hastily.; "She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi" |
| ~ scan | examine minutely or intensely.; "the surgeon scanned the X-ray" |
| ~ peruse | examine or consider with attention and in detail.; "Please peruse this report at your leisure" |
| ~ scrutinise, scrutinize, size up, take stock | to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail.; "he scrutinized his likeness in the mirror" |
| ~ search, look | search or seek.; "We looked all day and finally found the child in the forest"; "Look elsewhere for the perfect gift!" |
| ~ inspect | look over carefully.; "Please inspect your father's will carefully" |
| ~ check | make an examination or investigation.; "check into the rumor"; "check the time of the class" |
| v. (communication) | 3. examine, probe | question or examine thoroughly and closely. |
| ~ enquire, investigate, inquire | conduct an inquiry or investigation of.; "The district attorney's office investigated reports of possible irregularities"; "inquire into the disappearance of the rich old lady" |
| ~ re-examine | question after cross-examination by opposing counsel.; "re-examine one's witness" |
| ~ investigate, look into | investigate scientifically.; "Let's investigate the syntax of Chinese" |
| ~ hear, try | examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process.; "The jury had heard all the evidence"; "The case will be tried in California" |
| v. (communication) | 4. examine | question closely. |
| ~ query, question | pose a question. |
| ~ quiz, test | examine someone's knowledge of something.; "The teacher tests us every week"; "We got quizzed on French irregular verbs" |
| ~ cross examine, cross question | question closely, or question a witness that has already been questioned by the opposing side.; "The witness was cross-examined by the defense" |
| ~ catechize, catechise | examine through questioning and answering. |
| ~ grill | examine thoroughly.; "the student was grilled for two hours on the subject of phonology" |
| v. (social) | 5. essay, examine, prove, test, try, try out | put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to.; "This approach has been tried with good results"; "Test this recipe" |
| ~ pass judgment, evaluate, judge | form a critical opinion of.; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?"; "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" |
| ~ verify, control | check or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard.; "Are you controlling for the temperature?" |
| ~ float | circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with.; "The Republicans are floating the idea of a tax reform" |
| ~ field-test | test something under the conditions under which it will actually be used.; "The Army field tested the new tanks" |
| scrutinize | | |
| v. (perception) | 1. scrutinise, scrutinize, size up, take stock | to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail.; "he scrutinized his likeness in the mirror" |
| ~ examine, see | observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect.; "The customs agent examined the baggage"; "I must see your passport before you can enter the country" |
| v. (cognition) | 2. audit, inspect, scrutinise, scrutinize | examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification.; "audit accounts and tax returns" |
| ~ analyse, analyze, examine, study, canvass, canvas | consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning.; "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial"; "analyze your real motives" |
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