investigator
Britishnoun
Explanation
Every crime novel has an investigator, someone whose job it is to discover the truth. Not all investigators solve crimes, but to be an investigator you need to work hard to figure things out. A private investigator knocks at your door. Do you let him in? He probably only wants to ask questions, because that’s what investigators do: they research. Scientists are investigators, so are police officers, and even your friend who reads lots of books about butterflies can be considered an investigator. Rooted in the Latin word vestigare, meaning “trace out,” investigators gather facts in order to trace out the whole picture.
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 investigator who conducted that interview even testified at the latest trial.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Ebony Caviness, senior investigator with the district attorney’s office, expressed her appreciation to the public for helping crack the case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Owens has successfully positioned herself as a journalist, an investigator, someone who digs deep and asks the hard questions, Spencer said.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Still, Kean and Fedorenko, who is also a McGovern Institute investigator, suspected that the brain might separate the communication of reasoning from reasoning itself.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
He identified himself as William Skardon, an investigator with MI-5, and said he was just doing a routine check.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
