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.
On average, the level of sound they could detect improved from 106 decibels to 52.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 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
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
"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
But it was the Coast Guard that was best primed to detect so-called clandestine communication, or spy talk.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
