Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Reconnoiter \Rec`on*noi"ter\, Reconnoitre \Rec`on*noi"tre\ (r?k`?n*noi"t?r), v. t. [F. reconnoitre, a former spelling of reconna[^i]tre. See Recognize.]
To examine with the eye to make a preliminary examination or survey of; esp., to survey with a view to military or engineering operations.
To recognize. [Obs.]
--Sir H. Walpole.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 (context transitive intransitive military English) To perform a reconnaissance (of an area; an enemy position); to scout with the aim of gaining information. 2 (context obsolete English) To recognise. n. An act or instance of reconnoitring. vb. 1 (context transitive intransitive military English) To perform a reconnaissance (of an area; an enemy position); to scout with the aim of gaining information. 2 (context obsolete English) To recognise.
WordNet
v. explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody [syn: scout, reconnoiter]
Usage examples of "reconnoitre".
Making fast one end to the trunk of a stout pandanus tree, he tossed the coils over the cliff, slung his basket about his neck, and began to reconnoitre the ground.
During this dispute, we could plainly perceive, from our ramparts and church-steeple, several persons of distinction mounted on English horses, reconnoitring our fortification through perspective glasses.
Count and his son would never yield to his solicitations so far, as to let him accompany Renaldo in those excursions and reconnoitring parties, by which a volunteer inures himself to toil and peril, and acquires that knowledge in the operations of war, which qualifies him for a command in the service.
The reconnoitring party melted before them, and the infantry delivered their fire with fatal effect.
When we returned in the evening after our reconnoitring, we had no need of a Turkish bath.
The two small black figures in the distance, on the right, are Hassel and I, who are reconnoitring ahead.
It was evidently busy in reconnoitring, and in receiving accessions to its numbers.
A little reconnoitring told them that the hole which Joel had pointed out, had not been closed since the entrance of Willoughby and his companions.
In reconnoitring, in distributing proclamations, in collecting arms, in overawing outlying districts, weak columns must be used.
For a time the British seemed to have completely lost touch with Olivier, who suddenly on August 24th struck at a small detachment consisting almost entirely of Queenstown Rifle Volunteers under Colonel Ridley, who were reconnoitring near Winburg.
Those reconnoitring, who will return to find nothing but carnage where the tunnel once was.
But without actually reconnoitring, it was impossible to decide whether we could link up.
We were busy road-repairing for the next day or two, and officers were reconnoitring forward to see the lie of the country which we were to take over.
Here, a little farther along the coast, a reconnoitring party of seven landed and found four negro hunters sitting on the beach, armed with bows and arrows, who fled on seeing the strangers.
I HAD almost forgotten to state that, from the first moment of our landing, the want of cavalry, so useful in obtaining information and reconnoitring the open country, was very sensibly felt.