▸ seek out PHRASAL VERB If you seek out someone or something or seek them out , you keep looking for them until you find them. □ [V P n] Now is the time for local companies to seek out business opportunities overseas. □ [V n P ] Ellen spent the day in the hills and sought me out when she returned. SYNONYMS seek VERB 1
look: I had gone to Maine looking for a place to work.
search: They searched for a spot where they could sit on the floor.
hunt: A forensic team was hunting for clues.
seek|er /siː kə r / (seekers )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl, usu n N ] A seeker is someone who is looking for or trying to get something. □ I am a seeker after truth. □ The beaches draw sun-seekers from all over Europe.
2 → see also asylum seeker , job seeker
seem ◆◆◆ /siː m/ (seems , seeming , seemed )
1 V‑LINK [no cont] You use seem to say that someone or something gives the impression of having a particular quality, or of happening in the way you describe. □ [V adj] We heard a series of explosions. They seemed quite close by. □ [V adj] Everyone seems busy except us. □ [V n] To everyone who knew them, they seemed an ideal couple. □ [V n] £50 seems a lot to pay. □ [V to-inf] The calming effect seemed to last for about ten minutes. □ [V prep] It was a record that seemed beyond reach. □ [V -ed] The proposal seems designed to break opposition to the government's economic programme. □ [V that] It seems that the attack this morning was very carefully planned to cause few casualties. □ [V adj that] It seems clear that he has no reasonable alternative. □ [V as if] It seemed as if she'd been gone forever. □ [V to-inf] There seems to be a lot of support in Congress for this move. □ [V n] There seems no possibility that such action can be averted. □ [V ] This phenomenon is not as outrageous as it seems.
2 V‑LINK [no cont] You use seem when you are describing your own feelings or thoughts, or describing something that has happened to you, in order to make your statement less forceful. [VAGUENESS ] □ [V to-inf] I seem to have lost all my self-confidence. □ [V to-inf] I seem to remember giving you very precise instructions. □ [V to-inf] Excuse me, I seem to be a little bit lost.
3 PHRASE If you say that you cannot seem or could not seem to do something, you mean that you have tried to do it and were unable to. □ No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to catch up on all the bills.
4 → see also seeming SYNONYMS seem VERB 1
appear: The aircraft appears to have crashed near Katmandu.
look: They look like stars to the naked eye.
come across: When sober he can come across as an extremely pleasant young man.
seem|ing /siː m I ŋ/ ADJ [ADJ n] Seeming means appearing to be the case, but not necessarily the case. For example, if you talk about someone's seeming ability to do something, you mean that they appear to be able to do it, but you are not certain. [FORMAL , VAGUENESS ] □ Wall Street analysts have been highly critical of the company's seeming inability to control costs.
seem|ing|ly /siː m I ŋli/
1 ADV [ADV adj/adv] If something is seemingly the case, you mean that it appears to be the case, even though it may not really be so. □ A seemingly endless line of trucks waits in vain to load up.
2 ADV [ADV before v] You use seemingly when you want to say that something seems to be true. [VAGUENESS ] □ He has moved to Spain, seemingly to enjoy a slower style of life.
seem|ly /siː mli/ ADJ Seemly behaviour or dress is appropriate in the particular circumstances. [OLD-FASHIONED ] □ Self-assertion was not thought seemly in a woman.
seen /siː n/ Seen is the past participle of see .
seep /siː p/ (seeps , seeping , seeped )
1 VERB If something such as liquid or gas seeps somewhere, it flows slowly and in small amounts into a place where it should not go. □ [V prep/adv] Radioactive water had seeped into underground reservoirs. □ [V prep/adv] The gas is seeping out of the rocks. ● N‑COUNT Seep is also a noun. □ …an oil seep.
2 VERB If something such as secret information or an unpleasant emotion seeps somewhere, it comes out gradually. □ [V prep/adv] …the tide of racism which is sweeping Europe seeps into Britain.
seep|age /siː p I dʒ/ N‑UNCOUNT Seepage is the slow flow of a liquid through something. □ Chemical seepage has caused untold damage.
seer /siː ə r / (seers ) N‑COUNT A seer is a person who tells people what will happen in the future. [LITERARY ] □ …the writings of the 16th-century French seer, Nostradamus.
see|saw /siː sɔː/ (seesaws , seesawing , seesawed ) also see-saw
1 N‑COUNT A seesaw is a long board which is balanced on a fixed part in the middle. To play on it, a child sits on each end, and when one end goes up, the other goes down. □ There was a sandpit, a seesaw and a swing in the playground.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] In a seesaw situation, something continually changes from one state to another and back again. □ …a seesaw price situation. ● N‑COUNT [usu sing] Seesaw is also a noun. □ Marriage, however, is an emotional seesaw.
3 VERB If someone's emotions see-saw , or a particular situation see-saws , they continually change from one state to another and back again. □ [V ] The Tokyo stock market see-sawed up and down.