the act of putting something in a certain place
"The teacher spent her morning locating every misplaced textbook on the shelves before class began."
a determination of the place where something is
"he got a good fix on the target"
present participle of locate
"The team spent hours locating the missing hiker in the dense forest."
In plain English: To locate means to find something by figuring out exactly where it is.
"I spent all morning locating my missing keys in the cluttered drawer."