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.
The U.S. company said it would strengthen a tie-up with the country’s cybersecurity office and help the government and businesses detect cyberattacks early or preempt them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
"It's always hard to be 100 percent, but we can detect more than 90 percent of what's happening in real time."
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
Northern Ireland is also the only UK region yet to lower the level at which traces of blood in a home screening test trigger further investigation to detect more bowel cancers early.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Future experiments may be able to detect these signals, giving scientists a rare opportunity to test ideas about the universe's quantum beginnings.
From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026
The surgeons couldn't detect the pathway with their probes past a broken rib.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
