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.
And now, existing X-ray machines would be modified to detect explosives.
From Slate • Jul. 7, 2026
It entered talks with Sweden’s Saab to acquire surveillance aircraft to help detect and deter threats in the Arctic, spurning U.S. suppliers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026
The monitoring devices which were believed to have been dropped by the Bear-F plane float on the water and use sonar to detect submarines and other vessels.
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026
Researchers expect it to be about 10 times more sensitive than LIGO, allowing it to detect black hole and neutron star mergers stretching back to the era when the first stars formed.
From Science Daily • Jul. 3, 2026
“Or maybe goats are nocturnal. Some animals never sleep. Sheep never do, not that I could detect; whenever you look at them they’re looking back. Expecting to be fed.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Vocabulary lists containing detect
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 9
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