detect
to discover or catch (a person) in the performance of some act: to detect someone cheating.
to discover the existence of: to detect the odor of gas.
to find out the true character or activity of: to detect a spy.
Telecommunications.
to rectify alternating signal currents in a radio receiver.
to demodulate.
Origin of detect
1Other words from detect
- de·tect·a·ble, de·tect·i·ble, adjective
- de·tect·a·bil·i·ty, de·tect·i·bil·i·ty, noun
- pre·de·tect, verb (used with object)
- un·de·tect·a·ble, adjective
- un·de·tect·a·bly, adverb
- un·de·tect·ed, adjective
- un·de·tect·i·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use detect in a sentence
The LAMP detected the virus in 94 percent of people who got a positive PCR diagnosis, and didn’t find the virus in 98 percent of those with a negative PCR diagnosis.
The FDA just okayed a rapid at-home COVID test—but it won’t work for everyone | Tara Santora | November 20, 2020 | Popular-ScienceEven with the new system, it will still be necessary to place a target sticker on the tongue of the trailer, as one has to do with the current system, so the camera can lock onto that spot to detect when the trailer is turning.
Backing up a trailer is really hard, but this $100,000 SUV offers a new solution | Dan Carney | November 19, 2020 | Popular-ScienceA string of studies show that antigen tests reliably detect high viral loads.
Rapid Testing Is Less Accurate Than the Government Wants to Admit | by Lisa Song | November 16, 2020 | ProPublicaThat’s the early assessment of experts who have studied the rapid antigen tests that detect a protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2.
Elon Musk’s rapid COVID test tweets raise more questions than answers | Verne Kopytoff | November 13, 2020 | FortuneWhen Amazon detected her activities, she was banned from the program and it closed her Associates account.
Amazon sues online influencers engaged in a counterfeit scheme | Sarah Perez | November 12, 2020 | TechCrunch
It is a transformation that is undetectable to anyone not paying close attention.
Viral load can be reduced to undetectable levels, but it never goes away.
And if we are going to have to live with our past and current racism, then we must strive for undetectable levels of infection.
For example, the Army wants an undetectable aiming laser for small arms.
When the Undetectable Firearms Act passed in 1988, gun manufacturers had begun using lightweight polymer in handguns.
The Deadly Plastic Gun Loophole the House Extension Leaves in Place | Eleanor Clift | December 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd we turn out an olive-oil that is just simply perfect—undetectable!
Life On The Mississippi, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)Things undetectable under normal conditions can be seen or heard distinctly when life depends on the intelligence so gained.
Submarine Warfare of To-day | Charles W. Domville-FifeInstances of stones that have been thrown, or that have fallen, upon a small area, from an unseen and undetectable source.
The Book of the Damned | Charles FortHe'd broken through the screen of guard ships in undetectable overdrive.
This World Is Taboo | Murray LeinsterMonday morning Tom buckled down seriously to the job of designing an undetectable sub.
Tom Swift and the Electronic Hydrolung | Victor Appleton
British Dictionary definitions for detect
/ (dɪˈtɛkt) /
to perceive or notice: to detect a note of sarcasm
to discover the existence or presence of (esp something likely to elude observation): to detect alcohol in the blood
to extract information from (an electromagnetic wave)
obsolete to reveal or expose (a crime, criminal, etc)
Origin of detect
1Derived forms of detect
- detectable or detectible, adjective
- detecter, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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