reconnoitre

present singular third person reconnoitres · participle present reconnoitring · participle past reconnoitred · past reconnoitred · alternative US reconnoiter · alternative archaic reconnaitre · alternative rare reconnaître · alternative rare reconnoître

1. intransitivetransitivegovernmentTo perform a reconnaissance (of an area; an enemy position); to scout with the aim of gaining information.

   Our scout will reconnoitre the path ahead of our troops.

   2 more examples

   Not a drop of rain fell; the clouds went portentously off, like ships of war after reconnoitering a strong fort, to return with added strength and fury.

   1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 150

   "Damn!" said Tommy, and tried to sit up. He had remembered. He was in that sinister house in Soho. He uttered a groan and fell back. Through his almost-closed lids he reconnoitred carefully.

   1922, Agatha Christie, “Chapter 16”, in The Secret Adversary

2. obsoleteTo recognise.

   As to my person, it will not be so easy to reconnoitre it, for I question whether any of it will remain

   1765, Horace Walpole, The Correspondence of Horace Walpole, with George Montagu, Esq

plural reconnoitres · alternative US reconnoiter · alternative archaic reconnaitre · alternative rare reconnaître · alternative rare reconnoître

1. An act or instance of reconnoitring.

   The pilot reported the findings of his reconnoitre.