Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

detect

Syllabification: (de·tect)
Pronunciation: /diˈtekt/
Translate detect | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of detect

verb

[with object]
  • discover or identify the presence or existence of:cancer may soon be detected in its earliest stages
  • discover or investigate (a crime or its perpetrators):the public can help the police to detect crime
  • discern (something intangible or barely perceptible):Paul detected a faint note of weariness in his father’s voice

Derivatives

detectable

adjective

detectably

Pronunciation: /-əblē/
adverb

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin detect- 'uncovered', from the verb detegere, from de- (expressing reversal) + tegere 'to cover'. The original senses were 'uncover, expose' and 'give someone away', later 'expose the real or hidden nature of something or someone'; hence the current senses (partly influenced by detective)

detect in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of detect in the British & World English dictionary
  |  Cite

Word of the day

enjambement

/ ɪnˈdʒam(b)m(ə)nt /
noun
(in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause …