detector
Americannoun
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a person or thing that detects.
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a device for detecting smoke, fire, or some other hazardous condition.
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a device for detecting the presence of metal, contraband, or other items that might be hidden or concealed.
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Telecommunications.
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a device for detecting electric oscillations or waves.
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a device, as a crystal detector or a vacuum tube, that rectifies the alternating current in a radio receiver.
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noun
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a person or thing that detects
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any mechanical sensing device
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electronics a device used in the detection of radio signals
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?
Vocabulary lists containing detector
Seedfolks
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"Dogs at Work"
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The Mark of Athena
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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.
The experiment also relied on a specialized detector known as WASA, originally developed in Uppsala, Sweden.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
In each case, their writing would sail through a detector.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
The Orion spacecraft that transported the crew during their voyage ran into several glitches, including a smoke detector going off near the end of the trip.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Cornell University told AFP it "does not have any established relations with AI detector companies."
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
“That’s where the detector is, behind all that wiring. To see the Shadows, you have to be linked up to some electrodes. Like for measuring brain waves.”
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
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.
