seek

Seek is a verb meaning to attempt to find or obtain something by searching, asking, or contriving; to pursue a goal or objective. It can take an object: seek information, seek asylum, seek employment. The past tense is sought, and the past participle is also sought; the present participle is seeking. The word is used in both formal and everyday contexts, including literary writing and ordinary speech.

Etymology traces seek to Old English sēcan, with cognates in other Germanic languages such as German suchen and Dutch zoeken, all from a common Proto-Germanic root. The term retains a sense of deliberate pursuit rather than casual looking.

Usage notes: Seek is often followed by an infinitive or prepositional phrase, as in seek to understand, seek help, or seek safety. When used with a direct object, it emphasizes purposeful pursuit rather than mere glancing or casual searching.

In computing and information technology, seek refers to repositioning a data pointer within a file or data stream, such as lseek or fseek in programming languages, or the seek operation in media players and databases. In databases, index seek contrasts with table scan as a method to locate rows. In video or audio playback, to seek means to jump to a different time or frame using a seek bar.

In contemporary usage, seek is often viewed as more formal or deliberate than simpler terms like search or look for, and is common in professional, legal, or academic contexts.