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.
See Examples For:
"It's amazing that by using radio wavelengths we can detect the storms on a star over 5000 light-years away."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
The ability to detect such activity across thousands of light-years demonstrates how much information astronomers can extract from radio signals, even when the stars themselves are extraordinarily distant.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
Part of the gag is that she can’t evolve too much, but I feel like I detect more of her personal annoyance and preferences lately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2026
That’s especially true for facilities that are in closer proximity to Iran, like NSA Bahrain, and therefore with less time to detect and intercept projectiles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2026
This was a process that involved lining up messages to detect new patterns that could unlock the cipher.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
![]()
"So if you remove the receptor that detects the signal, you'd expect less inflammation, not more," Dr. Lengyel says.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
At Georgia Tech, he studied how AI could solve healthcare problems and he won national awards, including a 2023 honor for a novel framework that detects seizures in epileptic patients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The LZB system tracks train positions and automatically applies the brakes if it detects any anomalies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
A hotspot is a location where a satellite detects an unusually high temperature, indicating a potential fire or other strong heat source.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
She speaks of it lightly, but he detects a bitterness in her voice.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
![]()
They also detected disturbances in a cellular signaling system called mTOR, which helps regulate cell growth, metabolism, and responses to nutrients.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
Until now, astronomers had detected similar radio pulses in systems containing white dwarfs and smaller, cooler stars known as red dwarfs.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2026
Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said the virus had been detected in three sheep.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
The disease was first detected here near Bangor in County Down in November 2025.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
Year after year, aided by improved magnetometers that detected metal objects at deeper locations than ever before, more and more of the sunken vessel was uncovered.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
![]()
Last month, a team of cyber sleuths with roots in California reported detecting a "fleet" of agents linked to Chinese tech giant Tencent seeking information from a map app.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2026
The new STRIDE-RCT trial, external is about detecting bowel, small bowel, stomach, oesophageal, pancreatic, liver, bile duct and gallbladder, ovarian, endometrial, kidney, bladder and prostate cancer.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
For example, militaries detecting projectiles in their airspace that were en route to a target country didn’t warn their counterparts, leaving them with less time to deal with incoming attacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
One was so dim that detecting it would be comparable to standing on Earth and spotting a small swarm of fireflies on the Moon.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
Instead of allowing each officer to rely on his or her own limited experience and biases in detecting suspicious behavior, a drug-courier profile affords every officer the advantage of the agency’s collective experience and expertise.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
![]()
Vocabulary lists containing detect
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
NAEP Test Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 9
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a word