probe
n 1 : a surgical instrument that consists typically of a light slender fairly flexible pointed metal instrument like a small rod that is used typically for locating a foreign body (as a bullet embedded in a part of the body), for exploring a wound or suppurative tract by prodding or piercing, or for penetrating and exploring bodily passages and cavities 2 : a device (as an ultrasound generator) or a substance (as DNA used in genetic research) used to obtain specific information for diagnostic or experimental purposes <the radioactive revealed the distribution of molecules in the membrane> <identify a blot by using a molecular > vb, probed prob*ing vt : to examine with or as if with a probe < a wound> vi : to search by using a probe < for a bullet> .
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