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 investigators cited the inability of Ford’s system to detect and respond to a stationary vehicle in the Texas crash.
From The Wall Street Journal • 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
"Unfortunately, it is unlikely that detection technologies will provide a workable solution to this problem. It can be very difficult to accurately detect AI-generated content."
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
"Then we realized the galaxies might actually be there, but difficult to detect because their very recent star formation was suppressed."
From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026
Molly thought she could detect a note of worry in her voice, which was absurd.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
