private investigator
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of private investigator
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
Wright also strongly denied allegations he met private investigator Jonathan Rees and corrupt police officers in Thornton Heath pubs to pay them for information for stories.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
In 1986, Don Winslow was a 33-year-old New York-born, world-traveling private investigator who, during stakeouts, read crime fiction by authors such as Elmore Leonard, James Ellroy and Joseph Wambaugh.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
After setting up his own company, he was hired an as in-house private investigator for two US news shows.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026
He added that her notes referred to a private investigator who had charged her £400.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
Fenton Hardy, Frank and Joe’s dad, was a private investigator who used to work with the local Bayport police force.
From "Hopping Mad (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #4)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
