peruse

to peruse (third-person singular simple present peruses, present participle perusing, simple past and past participle perused)

1. (transitive) To examine or consider with care.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV:

     Sitting on a low stool, a few yards from her arm-chair, I examined her figure; I perused her features.

2. (transitive) To read completely.
   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She, Introduction:

     We are for reasons that, after perusing this manuscript, you may be able to guess, going away again this time to Central Asia […]

3. (transitive, informal) To look over casually; to skim.
   • 2001, Doug Stanton, In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis^[1], ISBN 0805066322, page 35:

     Haynes quickly perused the message, then took it to the captain on the bridge.

   • 2005, Al Lovejoy, Acid Alex^[2], ISBN 1770070931, page 98:

     She asked Denise for the court file, which she fussed from her handbag. The woman perused it briefly and then beamed up at me.

4. (intransitive, regional) To go from place to place; to wander.
   • 1957, Robert Ruark, The Old Man And The Boy^[3], ISBN 0805002391, page 55:

     I loved to straggle off in the mornings […] , just perusing around for firewood.

Usage notes

• The sense of "skimming" is proscribed by some authorities on usage, including the Oxford American Dictionary. The shift, however, is not dissimilar to that found in scan. The Oxford English Dictionary further notes that the word was used as a general synonym for read as far back as the 16th century.