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.
His research includes developing new ways to identify signs of awareness in patients who appear unresponsive, helping to push the boundaries of how scientists detect and understand conscious states.
From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026
Using his acute sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound within explosives, Magawa would then alert human handlers of mines that could be later safely removed.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
“You can’t detect all of them,” the user wrote before sending a few screenshots proving the case.
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
Rick broke off, the conduits of his brain humming, calculating, and selecting; he altered what he had started to say. “—would detect it,” he finished.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
