noun ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning.

   "Smoke detectors are mandatory in public buildings."

2. 2
   any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner wordnet
3. 3
   A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning.; An indicator showing the depth of the water in a boiler.
4. 4
   electronic equipment that detects the presence of radio signals or radioactivity wordnet
5. 5
   A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning.; A galvanometer, usually portable, for indicating the direction of a current.

Show 1 more definition

6. 6
   rectifier that extracts modulation from a radio carrier wave wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

amplifiercalorimeterchemical detectorclinical thermometercomputercryometer

Example

More examples

"My neighbor found a cache of ancient Roman coins using his metal detector."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dētēctor. Equals detect + -or (agent noun forming suffix).

Related phrases

CO detectorCanny edge detectorEverhart-Thornley detectorbat detectorcurrency detectordetector bardetector vanduct detectorelectron capture detectorenvelope detectorheat detectorjunction detector

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.