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.

---

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

---

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

During the 80-minute crossing, while running on LNG, gas detector alarms sounded inside the ship, and crew in the gas tank room reported hearing a strange noise.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

All trial watchers are wanded by a metal detector to ensure they’re carrying no other electronics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

I am sure of it not because I remember writing this thing in fits and starts throughout Saturday, but because an A.I. detector called Pangram blessed these paragraphs with a “100% Human Written” score.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

The detector repeatedly records more baryons than antibaryons emerging sideways from the collisions, perpendicular to the direction of the incoming beams.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Then came what he called the moment of truth: they brought the sample to the thirty-seven-inch cyclotron, placed it in a neutron beam, and waited for their detector to announce the kicks that indicated fission.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

And while some safety systems were absent, he said the gas detectors apparently functioned as they should do, triggering an automatic shut down of the fuel supply.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Most previous attempts to detect Antarctic glacial earthquakes used the worldwide network of seismic detectors.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

"We would ask the government to help us with things like metal detectors, which could help us find out whether there are other minerals here, so that our community can develop," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

To detect flare-ups more effectively, firefighters were using drones equipped with heat-sensing detectors, she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

In spots, they had broken or rusted through, so Tally and David had to ride carefully, eyes glued to the boards’ metal detectors.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Related Words

• radar