searching

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of search

adj

1. (of an investigation, etc.) Thorough.
   Einstein's photoelectric equation has been subjected to very searching tests and it appears in every case to predict exactly the observed results. March 1916, R. A. Millikan, “A Direct Photoelectric Determination of Planck's "h"”, in Physical Review, volume 7, number 3, →DOI, page 388
2. Looking over closely; penetrating; severe.
   a searching gaze; searching criticism

noun

1. search; hunt
   Depending on whom you ask, Antony Flew is either a true convert whose lifelong intellectual searchings finally brought him to God or a senescent scholar possibly being exploited by his associates. November 4, 2007, Mark Oppenheimer, “The Turning of an Atheist”, in New York Times