What does sleuthing mean?
Word: Sleuthing
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Sleuthing means the work of finding out facts or solving a mystery, in the way a detective does.
Synonyms: investigating, detective work
Word origin: From sleuth, which goes back to an Old Norse word, slod.
How do you spell sleuthing?
Syllables: sleuth - ing
Tricky part: The long oo sound is spelt eu, as in neutral and feud; students who write what they hear put sloothing.
Watch out for: sloothing, sluething
Memory tip: A good sleuth stays neutral until every clue is in, and sleuth has the same eu as neutral.
Sleuthing in a sentence
Example 1: After a bit of sleuthing, Kavya found out who had left the surprise card on her desk.
Example 2: A few minutes of online sleuthing told us which bus goes to the science museum.
Example 3: Sherlock Holmes stories are full of clever sleuthing.
Fun Fact
A sleuth was first a sleuth-hound, an old Scottish name for a bloodhound; only in the 1800s did sleuth come to mean a detective.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
After weeks of careful sleuting in old newspaper files, the journalist found the exact date the town's first school had opened.
a) a place where children go to learn
b) boxes or folders for keeping papers in order
c) a person who writes news for a paper or channel
d) quietly following clues until a puzzle is solved
Show answer
d) quietly following clues until a puzzle is solved. Sleuting has lost the h of th; sleuthing means finding facts out the way a detective does.
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. sleuthing 2. sleeveless 3. sledgehammer 4. slenderness
a) 2341
b) 3214
c) 1324
d) 3241
Show answer
d) 3241. All four begin with sle; the fourth letters d, e, n and u then set the order.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
123456789 gutheslin
a) 675234819
b) 987654321
c) 67523489
d) 675234891
Show answer
d) 675234891. Taking the letters in the order 6, 7, 5, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 1 rebuilds the word for detective work.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Sleuth, the root of sleuthing, comes from the Old Norse word slod, which means ___.
a) a track or trail
b) a hidden key
c) a quiet voice
d) a sharp eye
Show answer
a) a track or trail. A sleuth follows a trail of clues, just as the old word named the track an animal leaves.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Whose job involves a lot of sleuthing?
a) a pilot
b) a baker
c) a gardener
d) a private detective
Show answer
d) a private detective
2. 'A bit of sleuthing showed that the cat had eaten the fish.' Here sleuthing means ___.
a) shouting loudly
b) looking into the matter
c) guessing wildly
d) cooking carefully
Show answer
b) looking into the matter
