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# peruse

«peruse» in Mova's school dictionary: **To read or look at something carefully and in detail** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (peruse, peruses, perused, perusing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) To read or look at something carefully and in detail. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#m1)

2) (informal, common use) To look through something casually or browse: perusing the shelves of a shop. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

A formal, slightly old-fashioned word heard in exam instructions and stories: «Peruse the passage before answering». In stories a character peruses a menu, a map or a letter. Many people now use it to mean «skim» or «browse», so its meaning has two sides. In maths it never changes the numbers; it means read the problem carefully. Phrases: «peruse the menu», «peruse the document», «peruse at your leisure».

### examples

- Please peruse the instructions before you start. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x1)
- Dad perused the menu for ages. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x2)
- The detective perused the letter for clues. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x3)
- We perused the books at the school fair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x4)
- She perused the map to find the shortest road. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x5)
- Take a moment to peruse the questions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x6)
- Grandma likes perusing the newspaper over breakfast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peruse/#x7)

### note

Regular verb: perused. Trap: its original meaning is to read carefully, but many people use it for «glance through» — the opposite. In exams, read it as «read carefully». Noun: perusal.

### Trees and pragmatics

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