Definition of "dowse" [dowse]

• To use a divining rod to search for underground water or minerals. (verb-intransitive)
• Variant of douse1. (verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The killing of innocents is murder, and the support of such killing, no matter how you spin it, fluff it up, paint it pretty, and dowse it in perfume is wrong."
• "As well as the usual procession of side quests and oddities dotted around Sky Loft, its floating island world above the clouds and the three themed lands beneath, you'll frequently need to dowse, pointing the Wii-remote at the screen to divine the location of lost people and items."
• "Our awe of the heavens led us to confuse cause and effect, our awe of 'wise men' who could predict eclipses (probably back over 6000 yr/ago), and our awe of men who could dowse water ( origin of the the word sorcerer?) i.e."