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:
"These incidents have disrupted surveillance, case investigation, contact tracing, treatment and community engagements showing how attacks can undermine not only health services, but also the capacity to detect and contain outbreaks," said Musani.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Drones fitted with heat-sensing equipment continue to be used to detect hotspots in areas of peaty ground.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
They can detect coming danger like earthquakes or floods because their senses deliver facts: a sound, a smell, the change of the wind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
OTel, an open model that AT&T customized using telecom-specific data, supports AI agents that can detect the root cause of network issues, according to Markus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Mouzaive had invented an instrument he called a cryptochromometer that used a protein extracted from birds’ eyes to detect the presence of magnetic fields.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Mr. Chabal detects “a good deal of repression” and a discomfort with Jewishness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
She speaks of it lightly, but he detects a bitterness in her voice.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
The virus was detected this month in a Phillip Island penguin that had died, the first infection in the colony by a pathogen that has caused severe disease and death in birds worldwide.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Four years ago a trace of DNA was detected on fragments of skin found on the victim's trousers because of improved forensic techniques.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
“But I think he detected that I was ready for what he thought was the best way to help me to become better and stronger mentally.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
A huge area at the border has been blanketed by a thick plume of yellowish smoke, with fumes detected as far as eastern France, where authorities issued an air-pollution alert.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Past the musk of rot, I thought I detected another stench worse than the first.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
"It's detecting fraud if you change the price of something. It's detecting a counterfeit item for a second hand pair of Zara jeans."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We are significantly strengthening our ability to respond to hostile drones," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at the opening of the centre, which will focus on detecting and identifying unmanned aerial vehicles.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
For detecting multiple cancers, MethylScan showed a high level of overall accuracy.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
In Germany, Dobrindt in June opened a new Joint Center for Countering Hybrid Threats in Berlin, aiming to centralize work detecting and combating espionage, sabotage, disinformation and state-sponsored terrorism, among other dangers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
We were the first he numbered; he went by, detecting nothing.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Vocabulary lists containing detect
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List 9
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