detector

American  

[dih-tek-ter] / dɪˈtɛk tər /

noun

• detectors
  plural

1. a person or thing that detects.

2. a device for detecting smoke, fire, or some other hazardous condition.

3. a device for detecting the presence of metal, contraband, or other items that might be hidden or concealed.

4. Telecommunications.

   1. a device for detecting electric oscillations or waves.

   2. a device, as a crystal detector or a vacuum tube, that rectifies the alternating current in a radio receiver.

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detector British  

/ dɪˈtɛktə /

noun

1. a person or thing that detects

2. any mechanical sensing device

3. electronics a device used in the detection of radio signals

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• detectors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of detector

1535–45; < Late Latin dētēctor revealer, equivalent to Latin dēteg ( ere ) to uncover, reveal ( see detect) + -tor -tor

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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?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

detector detectors

The book has become shrouded in suspicion and been withdrawn from the shortlist for France's top book prize, the Goncourt, after tests with AI detector Pangram indicated a 100 percent probability it contained computer-generated text.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

No need to remove your valuables or go through a metal detector.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Engineers designated a small section of each detector to rapidly monitor a different guide star -- stars whose positions are already known with high precision.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

No detector can reliably determine whether that promise has been kept.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

She actually walked right past one scythe, certain she’d be caught, but she was smart enough to cross downwind of his DNA detector.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Research has found that AI detectors can wrongly flag human writing as AI generated.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

But studies show AI text detectors are often unreliable, generating false positives that can erode trust between instructors and students and forcing teachers to devise innovative methods to detect cheating and evaluate assignments.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

People queue at metal detectors and gaze up at the departures board.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Roman's primary science instrument, the Wide Field Instrument, contains 18 detectors.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Using the most sophisticated underwater metal detectors ever developed, the team uncovered solid indications of the presence of at least seven statues, buried deep under the seabed.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

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Related Words

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