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.
“But unlike physical abuse and neglect, financial abuse is more likely to occur with the tacit acknowledgment and consent of the elder person and can be more difficult to detect and establish,” it adds.
From MarketWatch • May 25, 2026
Since then, the tools have only gotten faster, cheaper, more widely available — and harder to detect.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
The scientists hope that by using algorithms to detect patterns of disease and predict suitable medicines, effective treatments could be found in "years rather than decades".
From BBC • May 22, 2026
By improving how scientists detect PAHs, methods like QuEChERS could help identify hidden contaminants, support safer food production, and reduce chemical waste in the lab.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
We could no longer detect the city, the night was so black, so full of water and motion, so unsparing was the drench.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Vocabulary lists containing detect
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 9
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