investigator
Britishnoun
Explanation
Every crime novel has an investigator, someone whose job it is to discover the truth. Not all investigators solve crimes, but to be an investigator you need to work hard to figure things out. A private investigator knocks at your door. Do you let him in? He probably only wants to ask questions, because that’s what investigators do: they research. Scientists are investigators, so are police officers, and even your friend who reads lots of books about butterflies can be considered an investigator. Rooted in the Latin word vestigare, meaning “trace out,” investigators gather facts in order to trace out the whole picture.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She started in the ATF’s Denver office as an industry operations investigator, the bureau’s term for inspectors who ensure that firearms dealers are conducting the required background checks on buyers and maintaining sales records.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
The live-action series is based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, telling the story of Ben Reilly - a hardened private investigator in 1930s New York, played by Nicolas Cage.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
"It was not an all or nothing phenomenon. We observed that cAMP responses across cells varied on a continuum," said co-corresponding author Michael Krashes, Ph.D., a senior investigator at NIDDK.
From Science Daily • May 25, 2026
“It was impressive to see that every dose of retatrutide resulted in clinically meaningful weight reduction for nearly all participants,” said lead investigator Ania Jastreboff, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
The private eyes learned that the marriage had been orchestrated by Minnie Savage—a “shrewd, immoral, capable woman,” as one investigator put it, who ran a boardinghouse in Pawhuska.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
