detector
Americannoun
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a person or thing that detects.
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a device for detecting smoke, fire, or some other hazardous condition.
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a device for detecting the presence of metal, contraband, or other items that might be hidden or concealed.
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Telecommunications.
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a device for detecting electric oscillations or waves.
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a device, as a crystal detector or a vacuum tube, that rectifies the alternating current in a radio receiver.
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noun
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a person or thing that detects
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any mechanical sensing device
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electronics a device used in the detection of radio signals
Etymology
Origin of detector
1535–45; < Late Latin dētēctor revealer, equivalent to Latin dēteg ( ere ) to uncover, reveal ( see detect) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A detector is a machine that responds to particular substances in a consistent way. Everyone who flies on an airplane must pass through a metal detector, which beeps when it senses metal. A "lie detector" works by measuring pulse and eye movements as a person responds to a series of questions. A radioactivity detector looks for high levels of radioactivity in nuclear power plants. Since the invention of detectors, the idea of more fantastical detectors has filled the human imagination. A love detector: why not?
Vocabulary lists containing detector
Seedfolks
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"Dogs at Work"
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The Mark of Athena
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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.
With the increase of punk rock festivals in Los Angeles over the past few years, such as Lie Detector Fest and C.Y.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2025
Internet traffic observer Down Detector is reporting vast outages on several Meta platforms Tuesday.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
Reports that the platform was not working began flooding into Down Detector shortly before 5 a.m.
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2023
The policy applies specifically to the company's Wayside Detector Help Desk, which monitors data from the track-side sensors.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2023
Tens of thousands of men crouched behind gunfire panels, watching the dials on the Attison Detector.
From The Hour of Battle by Krenkel, Roy G.
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.
