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 startup, Pilgrim, has built a 50-pound tripod-mounted hardware device called Argus that is packed with sensors that combines air sampling and genomic sequencing to detect biological threats, like Ebola or anthrax.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The theory is that it can detect cancers earlier, allowing patients to start treatment earlier, while also looking for cancers the medical system doesn’t regularly screen for, like pancreatic cancer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
To counter this, Burnham announced a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect and disrupt AI-enabled disinformation campaigns by hostile states.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Safavi-Naeini's group is already working with physicist Michael Roukes' team at Caltech to explore whether the system could be used to detect and identify proteins inside cells.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
For the rest of the week, I'm the one stealing glances at Edie, trying to detect any hint of the girl I saw crying in the bathroom.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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“There is no evidence that any multi-cancer detection testing prevents cancer, consistently detects it at an earlier stage, or reduces cancer-associated mortality,” two researchers wrote in the Lancet this week.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 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
It also correctly detects an estimated 94% of generic, or AI-generated, posts, which it refrains from distributing beyond the author’s immediate network, according to a spokeswoman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
These measurements can reflect how the nervous system detects and processes painful signals.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
He detects patterns: one track is waffled, another has fine lines, and another is shaped like the pointed toe of a boot.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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Predecessor Julian Nagelsmann bent over backwards to hide some of the flaws he detected in his squad and thus created highly complex tactical systems.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Researchers detected BFAs in the kidney but not in the other tissues they examined.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Following Seeley’s insight, others showed how changes in the salience network can be detected in schizophrenia and autism—conditions where patients lose awareness of social nuance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
When detected early, however, the condition is considered treatable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
A fourth apartment at first looked ideal, but Bobby detected something “wrong with the air.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Look for banks that are serious about detecting fraud, such as by using multifactor-authentication or biometric features.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
"The natural shielding provided by the rock creates one of the quietest environments on Earth for detecting extremely rare physical phenomena," says Curceanu.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Having only ever found a silver coin while metal detecting, Idris Thomas was shocked to strike gold - a late Bronze Age gold bracelet which has been declared treasure.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
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
His sole claim to fame during a lackluster tenure on the city council was detecting a bookkeeping error that would have cost the city a million dollars.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Vocabulary lists containing detect
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 9
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