prospect

noun

1. 1

   The region which the eye overlooks at one time; a view; a scene; an outlook.

   As when a Scout[…]Obtains the brow of ſome high-climbing Hill, / Which to his eye diſcovers unaware / The goodly proſpect of ſome forein land / Firſt-ſeen, or ſome renownd Metropolis / With gliſtering Spires and Pinnacles adornd, / Which now the Riſing Sun guilds with his beams.

2. 2

   A picturesque or panoramic view; a landscape; hence, a sketch of a landscape.

   I went to Putney, and other places on the Thames, to take prospects in crayon, to carry into France, where I thought to have them engraved.

   The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.

3. 3

   A position affording a fine view; a lookout.

   Him God beholding from his proſpect high, / Wherein paſt, preſent, future he beholds, / Thus to his onely Son forſeeing ſpake.

4. 4

   A relative position of the front of a building or other structure; a face; a relative aspect.

   Their prospect was toward the south.

5. 5

   The act of looking forward; foresight; anticipation.

   a very ill prospect of a future state

   Is he a prudent man as to his temporal estate, that lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to, or provision for, the remaining part of life?

6. 6

   The potential things that may come to pass, often favorable.

   The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.

   We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

   Prospects for the construction of a Channel tunnel now appear to be brighter than they have been for some time.

   And a further boost to England's qualification prospects came after the final whistle when Wales recorded a 2-1 home win over group rivals Montenegro, who Capello's men face in their final qualifier.

7. 7

   A hope; a hopeful.

   The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.

8. 8

   Any player whose rights are owned by a top-level professional team, but who has yet to play a game for said team.

9. 9

   A potential client or customer.

10. 10

    The façade of an organ.

verb

1. 1

   To search, as for gold.

   Among the ancient sites in the Taklamakan Desert which are frequented by Khotan "treasure seekers," and which the prospecting parties sent out by me had visited, none seemed to offer better opportunities for systematic excavations than the one known to them as Dandan-Uilik.

2. 2

   To determine which minerals or metals are present in a location.

verb

1. 1

   obsoleteTo have or afford a view; to face or look out.

   This poynte ſemethe as though it woolde inuade the monte Atlas in Aphrica. Foꝛ it pꝛoſpectethe [translating spectat] towarde that parte of Aphꝛike, whiche the poꝛtugales caule Caput Bonæ Sperantiæ.

   All men, whoſe experience by trauaile is a wytnes of the ſingularities of Italye, and ſpaine, are of opinion I am ſewer, that naples, is one of yͤ moſt riche pleaſante and Populus cities in evrope, bothe foꝛ the beautie and fartilitie of the countreye rounde aboute, the magnifical plat and ſcituacion of the towne, pꝛoſpectinge with open caſementes, vppon the heyghte of the highe ſea Tyrenũ, […]

   Like Carpenters, within a VVood they chooſe / Sixteene faire Trees that neuer leaues doe looſe, / VVhoſe equall front in quadran forme proſpected, / As if of purpoſe Nature them erected: […]

   Their houſes are low, without the ornament of porches, galleries, windowes, and proſpect into the ſtreets.

2. 2

   obsoleteTo look or face towards; to view.

   Beynge therfoꝛe ioyfull and gladde of the frendeſhyppe of owre men, he tooke the capitaine by the hand and bꝛought him with certeine of his familiars to the higheſt towre of his palaice, from whenſe they myght proſpecte [translating dispectare] the mayne ſea.

   […] [Andreas] Veſalius no leſſe taketh part agaynſt him, openyng the window of light, on the clearer ſide, pꝛoſpecting the Sunne, as manifeſtly appeareth by that is gone befoꝛe.

   In this meane while Peter of Nauarro made certein cloaſe or couered Barks, with the which approaching in more ſuertie the walles of the Egg Caſtle, he caſt a mine on that ſide which proſpects Pizifalcona, […]

   The College of Carmelites is on an high Mount, proſpecting the whole City, it is a fine Building; […]

Forms

plural

prospects

past tense

prospected

past participle

prospected

present participle

prospecting

third person singular

prospects