house detective

American  

noun

1. an employee of a department store, hotel, etc., employed to prevent thefts, violations of regulations, or other forms of misconduct on the part of patrons.

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Etymology

Origin of house detective

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

He’s got the look of a house detective.

From Golf Digest • Mar. 27, 2020

Another principal figure was the arrested Hilton Hotel house detective, 39-year-old Ed Murphy.

From Slate • Jul. 11, 2012

I was asked more than once to leave the Plaza Hotel, ushered out by the house detective.

From New York Times • May 28, 2012

In the morning, a house detective found a velvet mask, a revolver, in the trunk of one Eric Nelson, British, in the cubicle overhead.

From Time Magazine Archive

I suspect that he was a "plant," or a plain-clothes house detective, placed there on purpose to deceive me.

From Of All Things by Benchley, Robert C.