a familiar name for a person (often a shortened version of a person's given name); "Joe's mother would not use his nickname and always called him Joseph"; "Henry's nickname was Slim"
a descriptive name for a place or thing; "the nickname for the U.S. Constitution is `Old Ironsides'"
conduct an inquiry or investigation of; "The district attorney's office investigated reports of possible irregularities"; "inquire into the disappearance of the rich old lady"
investigate scientifically; "Let's investigate the syntax of Chinese"