detect
Usage
What are other ways to say detect?
To detect implies becoming aware of something that had been obscure, secret, or concealed: to detect a flaw in reasoning. To ascertain is to verify facts by inquiry or analysis: to ascertain the truth about an event. To learn is to add to one's knowledge or information: to learn a language. The verb discover is used with objective clauses as a synonym of learn in order to suggest that the new information acquired is surprising to the learner: I discovered that she had been married before.
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.
See Examples For:
The California-based company said it had incorporated its findings into its processes "to better prevent, detect, and disrupt these activities in the future".
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
After living in a world saturated with AI content, most of us are pretty confident that we can detect the signs of AI in emails, text messages, images and reports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Their bubble risk indicator is a price-based measure, designed to detect bubble-like asset dynamics with the model incorporating an asset’s returns, volatility, momentum and fragility into a single reading.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Instead of attempting to identify and measure one galaxy at a time, astronomers detect the combined radio glow produced by hydrogen in large numbers of galaxies that cannot be individually resolved.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
Not only could it detect radio signals sent from many thousands of miles away, but it used the most up-to-date equipment available.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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This type of scanning detects changes in blood flow associated with brain activity, allowing researchers to observe which areas and networks are more or less active.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
As the hulking antenna swivels into action, screens inside the control room light up with the names of objects the radar system detects: stars, satellites and abandoned rocket bodies.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
When the camera detects a violation, it generates an evidence package, consisting of the date, time and location, as well as still images.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
This change didn’t affect how the CDC detects and investigates outbreaks; for that it relies on a separate reporting system that collects case and genetic sequencing information from labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
As the brain detects a fall in blood temperature, it automatically protects itself by shutting down the blood supply to the hands and feet.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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Not all disasters are foreseeable but those that relate to geology, like landslides and glacier collapses, can often be detected early in the data, if there is capacity to spot the pattern.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
As the amount of PCE detected in a person's blood increased, so did the likelihood of significant liver fibrosis.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
Airports routinely shut down for hours at a time when drones are detected nearby, forcing flight delays and cancellations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Authorities said 209 flights were suspended after ash from Mount Anak Krakatoa was detected in airspace near Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday morning.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
I thought I detected a glimmer of sadness in his eyes, a real kind of pain, but just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by his usual confident expression.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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The company pulled the car over after detecting a “violation of our terms of service involving a firearm,” the spokesperson said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Bots have gotten much better at solving them, prompting websites to rely increasingly on less visible—and more consumer-friendly—ways of detecting suspicious behavior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
These systems can be programmed to carry out tasks such as detecting a particular molecule and then producing a specific response.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Scientists believe they may be one step closer to detecting dark matter for the first time, but the findings have not been verified by independent researchers.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
There was always a point at which a detective began to question his suspects, and she figured talking to Cook was a kind of detecting.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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Vocabulary lists containing detect
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List 9
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