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 impulse to dismiss all this as a detector company drumming up business runs into an issue—Pangram actually works way better than you might think.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Cornell University told AFP it "does not have any established relations with AI detector companies."
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
In his letter to Weber, Curtis promised to take a lie detector test after each election.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
“I could spend all night in the water searching,” he says, sweeping his arm back and forth, an imagined metal detector in his hand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
Penzias and Wilson were worried when they found that their detector was picking up more noise than it ought to.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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.
