You searched for: “peruses
peruse (verb), peruses; perused; perusing
1. Normally to do something in a thorough or careful way: Gary continued to peruse the instruction book as he was setting up his computer for the first time.

It may be a losing battle; however, it is worth pointing out that peruse does not mean to look over casually, but to read or to examine carefully.

2. To examine in detail, in order to learn; to look at with attention: The teacher assigned the class to peruse the complex chapter carefully in the biology book.

The group of artists perused the paintings in the art exhibit.

4. To read carefully and with close attention, as a demanding or complicated text that requires concentration and effort: Andrew said he would sign the contract after his lawyers completely perused it in great detail, and found out if it was fair and worth paying for.
5. A term that some people consider to be pompous and stilted in business correspondence: Peruse shouldn't be used merely as a fancy substitute for read.

Some writers misuse the verb peruse as if it means "to read quickly" or "to scan", like the following example shows: Kevin took off his sunglasses and quickly perused or skimmed through the stack of documents, asked a few questions, and then signed several of them.

Peruse has meant "to read thoroughly" for a long time; however, now it is often used loosely when people should use the word "read" instead.

Sometimes people use it to mean "to glance over, to skim," as in "We only had a minute to quickly peruse the manual, but this kind of usage is still considered an error by many linguistic specialists.

—Compiled from information presented in the Usage Note located in
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language;
4th edition; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, New York; 2006; page 1,312.
6. Etymology: from Middle English per, "completely, throughly" + usen, "to use."
To examine in detail.
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This entry is located in the following units: per- (page 12) us-, ut- (page 2)