detective work
Americannoun
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the professional activities of a detective; the activities involved in uncovering clues and making deductions leading to the identification of suspects in a crime.
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any activity that involves making careful observations or seeking out facts that are difficult to access, analyzing the information, and drawing conclusions.
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.
Others resurfaced only through detective work that sent Dorfan following leads that spanned decades and crossed more than a dozen borders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
Using old field photographs and careful detective work, Sereno and his colleagues retraced the locations in east-central Wyoming where several classic dinosaur mummies had first been uncovered in the early 1900s.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025
After hours of amateur detective work, Vic found out that his real name was actually—well, let’s just say his name was José Rey.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
Dr Bennett said "all the pieces fit and I think the local dive team are to be congratulated on a splendid piece of detective work which reveals this maritime disaster".
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2025
I began a folder of questions with both answers and hypotheses and was still absorbed in my detective work when the police arrived for a surprise visit at 7:30 am.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
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.
