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# investigation

«investigation» in Mova's school dictionary: **A careful search for facts to find out the truth about…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (investigation, investigations); from the verb investigate

### meaning for a pupil

1) A careful search for facts to find out the truth about something, such as a crime or an accident. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#m1)

2) (school/science) A planned experiment or study to answer a question by testing and measuring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#m2)

3) (maths) An open task where you explore numbers or shapes to find patterns and rules. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Very common in school: «science investigation» means asking a question, making a prediction, doing a fair test and recording results. In maths, «an investigation» means exploring a problem («How many squares on a chessboard?»). In news and detective stories: a police investigation looks for clues and suspects. Phrases: «carry out an investigation», «under investigation», «an investigation into».

### examples

- Our class did an investigation into which paper towel soaks up the most water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x1)
- The police started an investigation after the bike was stolen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x2)
- The cause of the fire is still under investigation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x3)
- In our maths investigation, we found a pattern in the square numbers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x4)
- A good science investigation must be a fair test. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x5)
- The detective's investigation led her to the old lighthouse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x6)
- The school ran an investigation into who had broken the window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x7)
- We wrote up our investigation with a method, results and conclusion. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x8)
- We have seen enough to know that a very interesting line of investigation has been opened." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/#x9)

### note

Countable: an investigation, investigations. «Carry out» or «conduct» an investigation (not «make»). «Under investigation» means it is still being studied. Do not confuse with «instigation» (starting trouble). In a fair test, change only one thing at a time and keep everything else the same.

### In the corpora

- [Serious accusations belong to courts and investigations, not to jokes in the playground.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/44-the-royal-family-in-the-news-a-wedding-a-move-to-america-an-interview-and-a-book/25/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «investigation» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/investigation/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.