–noun

1.	persons indefinitely or col b63 lectively; persons in general: to find it easy to talk to people; What will people think?

2.	persons, whether men, women, or children, considered as numerable individuals forming a group: Twenty people volunteered to help.

3.	human beings, as distinguished from animals or other beings.

4.	the entire body of persons who constitute a community, tribe, nation, or other group by virtue of a common culture, history, religion, or the like: the people of Australia; the Jewish people.

5.	the persons of any particular group, company, or number (sometimes used in combination): the people of a parish; educated people; salespeople.

6.	the ordinary persons, as distinguished from those who have wealth, rank, influence, etc.: a man of the people.

7.	the subjects, followers, or subordinates of a ruler, leader, employer, etc.: the king and his people.

8.	the body of enfranchised citizens of a state: representatives chosen by the people.

9.	a person's family or relatives: My grandmother's people came from Iowa.

10.	(used in the possessive in Communist or left-wing countries to indicate that an institution operates under the control of or for the benefit of the people, esp. under Communist leadership): people's republic; people's army.

11.	animals of a specified kind: the monkey people of the forest.

–verb (used with object)

12.	to furnish with people; populate.

13.	to 235 supply or stock as if with people: a meadow peopled with flowers.

–verb (used with object)

1.	to go or look through (a place, area, etc.) carefully in order to find something missing or lost: They searched the woods for the missing child. I searched the desk for the letter.

2.	to look at or examine (a person, object, etc.) carefully in order to find something concealed: He searched the vase for signs of a crack. The police searched the suspect for weapons.

3.	to explore or examine in order to discover: They searched the hills for gold.

4.	to look at, read, or examine (a record, writing, collection, repository, etc.) for information: to search a property title; He searched the courthouse for a record of the deed to the land.

5.	to look at or beneat 760 h the superficial aspects of to discover a motive, reaction, feeling, basic truth, etc.: He searched her face for a clue to her true feelings.

6.	to look into, question, or scrutinize: She searched her conscience.

7.	(of natural elements) to pierce or penetrate: The sunlight searched the room's dark corners.

8.	to uncover or find by examination or exploration (often fol. by out): to search out all the facts.

9.	Military. to fire artillery over (an area) with successive changes in gun elevation.

10.	Computers. to examine (one or more files, as databases or texts) electronically, to locate specified items.

–verb (used without object)

11.	to inquire, investigate, examine, or seek; conduct an examination or investigation.

–noun

12.	an act or instance of searching; careful examination or investigation.

13.	the practice, on the part of naval officers of a belligerent nation, of boarding and examining a suspected neutral vessel at sea in order to ascertain its true nationality and determine if it is carrying contraband: the right of visit and search.

—Idiom

14.	search me, I don't know: Why has it taken so long to reach a decision? Search me.