detector
Americannoun
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a person or thing that detects.
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a device for detecting smoke, fire, or some other hazardous condition.
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a device for detecting the presence of metal, contraband, or other items that might be hidden or concealed.
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Telecommunications.
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a device for detecting electric oscillations or waves.
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a device, as a crystal detector or a vacuum tube, that rectifies the alternating current in a radio receiver.
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noun
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a person or thing that detects
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any mechanical sensing device
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electronics a device used in the detection of radio signals
Etymology
Origin of detector
1535–45; < Late Latin dētēctor revealer, equivalent to Latin dēteg ( ere ) to uncover, reveal ( detect ) + -tor -tor
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.
As detectors become more sensitive, this method could deliver even sharper measurements, potentially helping scientists close the gap behind the Hubble tension.
From Science Daily
Visitors are searched, and cars and bags are swept by dogs and metal detectors.
From BBC
After passing through metal detectors, groups of about 750 people were being allowed into the hill town basilica's lower church every half an hour starting from 7:00am.
From Barron's
The company’s catalog includes license plate readers, gunshot detectors and automated drones, with plans to expand into even more massive people-tracking software.
From Salon
“He’s someone who lost his BS detector and has drunk his own Kool-Aid.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
