metal detector

American  

noun

1. an electronic device for detecting the presence of metal objects, as one used as a portable sweeping unit or one emplaced in an archway at an airport terminal to detect concealed weapons, explosives, etc.

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metal detector British  

noun

1. a device that gives an audible or visual signal when its search head comes close to a metallic object embedded in food, buried in the ground, etc

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Example Sentences

Sometimes he’s just out there for fun, but often he’s wielding his submersible Excalibur II metal detector to salvage someone’s destination wedding.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Manguillier found his niche in the island economy in 1993 when a French friend brought him a Fisher metal detector, which operates both on land and in the water.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

“He’s got a metal detector or something...no wait, it’s a golf club!” he exclaimed over the phone.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025

He called his wife, who at the time was shopping for a metal detector to help with the hunt, and she immediately broke down in tears.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2025

Rather than be searched by hand, I chose to walk through the metal detector without my cart or my tank or even the plastic nubbins in my nose.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green