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

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?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

detector detectors

In other words, the detector may be able to select the desired events while rejecting many unrelated signals.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

Two years earlier, the FAA had begun to require that all carry-on luggage be X-rayed for weapons and passengers be scanned by a metal detector.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Since the first direct detection of gravitational waves in September 2015, Glasgow researchers have continued working alongside scientists across the LVK collaboration to improve both detector performance and data analysis techniques.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026

There is one metal detector for everyone and one bag screener for carry-on items.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

He directed his question to the cop behind the metal detector.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

The authors believe that additional improvements to the optical design and other parts of the system could eventually make sub-millimeter resolution possible in PLATON-type detectors with volumes larger than 1m3.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

Once operational, between 140 and 200 collisions will occur each time two packets of particles meet inside detectors in the tunnel, up from 60 currently.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Nervous students were met with biometric identification checks, metal detectors, armoured patrols and frisking at exam centres on Sunday morning.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

At Hockney’s 70th-birthday party at Tate Britain in London, Sykes’s biography recounts, the museum’s smoke detectors were turned off for 10 minutes after dinner so the guest of honor could have a cigarette.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

That meant a security check with metal detectors.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

• radar