探さがし当あてる

さ

が

し

あ

て

る

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

ichidan verb, transitive verb

find after searching; locate; track down

Emphasizes the effort of searching thoroughly before finally finding something. Often used when the search is difficult or the object is hard to locate.

何なん時じ間かんもかけて、やっと彼かれの住じゅう所しょを探さがし当あてた。
After spending hours, I finally tracked down his address.
図と書しょ館かんでその本ほんを探さがし当あてるのに苦く労ろうした。
I had a hard time locating that book in the library.

Written forms

探さがし当あてるUsage56%
Standard kanji spelling for 'to find after searching'.
探さがしあてるUsage24%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kana-mixed form; not a standard written spelling.
捜さがし当あてるUsage11%
Variant kanji spelling; 捜す often implies searching for something lost or missing.
さがしあてるUsage9%

Kanji

探grope, search, look for
当hit, right, appropriate
捜search, look for, locate

Similar words

見みつける
見つける is the general word for 'find' or 'discover', without the nuance of exhaustive searching. 探し当てる implies a deliberate, often difficult search.
探さがす
探す means 'to search for' or 'to look for', focusing on the process. 探し当てる focuses on the successful result of that search.

Etymology

Compound of 探す (sagasu, 'to search') + 当てる (ateru, 'to hit upon, to guess right'). The combination yields the meaning 'to successfully find after searching'.