Metaphors for searching
Searching for something is like hunting an animal, or like one animal hunting another.
- I’ve been hunting for that book all day.
- The detectives were on their trail at once.
- They managed to track down his childhood friends.
- She was being hounded by photographers.
Searching and discovering information is like finding it by digging or searching in the ground.
- Let me know if you dig up/turn up anything about him.
- I unearthed some useful facts and figures.
- The facts only came to light after a long investigation.
- We left no stone unturned in our search for the truth.
For more metaphor examples, see the ‘hunting and digging metaphors‘ in Macmillan Dictionary.
Read James Geary’s blog post on related metaphors in everyday use.
Can you think of more examples? If so, please add them below in a comment.
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