How to Use investigate in a Sentence

investigate

verb
  • The manager promised to investigate when we pointed out an error on our bill.
  • The police are still investigating the murder.
  • He was investigated for his involvement in the incident.
  • The accident was thoroughly investigated.
  • To be able to investigate with her two times is a gift.
    — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
  • One day, the goal was to choose an A plot—some case for the team to investigate.
    — Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022
  • Ferrante looked back and forth — coast clear — and got out to investigate.
    — Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2022
  • There have been no charges filed as of yet and it is being investigated.
    — Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Fire marshals are still investigating the cause of the blaze.
    — Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 22 May 2025
  • No bombs were found and police were investigating the threats.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The more of these that apply, the more worth investigating.
    — Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The highway was shut down for about six hours while police investigated the crash.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 8 June 2026
  • Human rights groups have said the bombing should be investigated as a war crime.
    — Ramon Padilla, USA Today, 11 Mar. 2026
  • Dina investigates the nearby trees and returns to puke her guts out.
    — EW.com, 28 Apr. 2025
  • Laesch said that, like the process works now, someone would need to make a complaint to that board, which would then investigate.
    — R. Christian Smith, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The decision whether to investigate the cause of the fire will be up to the local land managers.
    — Anna Rose MacArthur, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Apr. 2022
  • It should be investigated as a crime from the very beginning.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
  • This means only that the police are now required to investigate.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Sep. 2025
  • The church is investigating, and Bickle stepped down from his post.
    — Cherie Deville, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Chris Depue, a spokesman for the task force that investigates police shootings.
    — Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Potter is bolder at first and will investigate.
    — Maryanne Dell, Oc Register, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The investigating state trooper noted that the weather was clear and the road was dry at the time of the crash.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 10 Nov. 2025
  • The cause of the fire is being investigated.
    — Timia Cobb, Dallas Morning News, 11 Feb. 2026
  • And her case, although investigated, had gone cold—as is the stay of play for so many other trans people.
    — Daniel Scheffler, SPIN, 10 June 2024
  • Both men will be detained while police investigate.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
  • He was supposed to be the hero who caught bad guys and investigated evildoers.
    — Scott Johnson, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2023
  • What caused the car fire is being investigated.
    — Jennifer McRae, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Trump said Marines then took control of the vessel and moved to investigate its cargo.
    — Npr Staff, NPR, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Runge has been investigating the six and thus Jamal over the past seven months.
    — Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 3 Mar. 2024
  • State police are now investigating the crash, with no charges filed as of Sunday night.
    — Zach Lachance, The Washington Examiner, 31 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'investigate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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