private investigator
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of private investigator
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
Prince Harry's legal team says private investigator Gavin Burrows signed a statement in 2021 confirming he carried out some of the most serious wrong-doing alleged against the Mail newspapers.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
A private investigator who was initially a key witness in a privacy case brought by several claimants against the publisher of the Daily Mail, including Prince Harry, has denied "switching sides" out of revenge.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
In 1986, Don Winslow was a 33-year-old New York-born, world-traveling private investigator who, during stakeouts, read crime fiction by authors such as Elmore Leonard, James Ellroy and Joseph Wambaugh.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
He added that her notes referred to a private investigator who had charged her £400.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
He was a successful private investigator who’d solved lots of tough cases.
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
