To look over the parts, features, or contents of; view broadly, To conduct a statistical survey on, To make a survey, transitive verb_ To inspect, or take a view of; to view with attention, as from a high place; to overlook, To view with a scrutinizing eye; to examine, To determine the form, extent, position, etc., of, as a tract of land, a coast, harbor, or the like, by means of linear and angular measurments, and the application of the principles of geometry and trigonometry, verb_ To examine with reference to condition, situation, value, etc.; to examine and ascertain the state of; as, to survey a building in order to determine its value and exposure to loss by fire, plot a map of (land), To view with a scrutinizing eye; to examine, noun_ The act of surveying; a general view, as from above, The operation of finding the contour, dimensions, position, or other particulars of, as any part of the earth's surface, whether land or water; also, a measured plan and description of any portion of country, or of a road or line through it, A species of auction, in which farms are disposed of for a period covering three lives.