noun
survey
SUR-vay
noun
1
A set of questions used to gather information or opinions from a group of people.
"The company sent out a customer satisfaction survey."
"Fill out this short survey to help us improve."
2
A general overview or examination of something.
"The report gives a survey of trends in the industry."
verb
1
To look carefully over something, or to ask people questions to gather data.
"He surveyed the damage after the storm."
"Researchers surveyed a thousand adults about their spending habits."
2
To measure land in order to record its boundaries, features, or elevation.
"A team surveyed the plot before construction began."
How to Use Survey
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA questionnaire to gather opinions, a general overview, or the act of examining/measuring something carefully.
Common pairings
conduct a survey
a land survey
survey respondents
Word Forms
surveyed past tense, surveys plural, surveys singular
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Etymology
From Old French surveoir ("to oversee"), from sur- ("over") + veoir ("to see"), from Latin videre — related to "vision" and "supervise".