Definitions for detective
dɪˈtɛk tɪvde·tec·tive

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. detective, investigator, tec, police detectivenoun

   a police officer who investigates crimes

2. detectivenoun

   an investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. detectivenoun

   a police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator.

2. detectivenoun

   a person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Detective

   A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads them to arrest criminals and enable them to be convicted in court. A detective may work for the police or privately.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. detective

   A detective is a professional investigator, often a member of a law enforcement agency, who collects facts and gathers data to solve crimes. Detectives use a variety of techniques in their investigations such as interviewing suspects and witnesses, examining physical evidence, conducting surveillance, checking criminal records, and following leads. Some detectives specialize in certain types of crimes like homicide, cybercrime, or fraud.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Detectiveadjective

   fitted for, or skilled in, detecting; employed in detecting crime or criminals; as, a detective officer

2. Detectivenoun

   one who business it is so detect criminals or discover matters of secrecy

FreebaseRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Detective

   A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes". Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records.

Matched Categories

1. • Investigator
   • Policeman

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'detective' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4837

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'detective' in Nouns Frequency: #1483

How to pronounce detective?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say detective in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of detective in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of detective in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of detective in a Sentence

1. Henry Stawinski:

   Seeing the danger presented by Michael, the shooter, (Detective Colson) took action -- and in doing so, demonstrated extreme heroism because it was his actions that allowed officers to take a position where they could intervene and neutralize the threat, detective Colson drew fire to himself, and in doing so was mortally wounded.

2. Arthur C. Clarke:

   Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.

3. Julie Rendelman:

   Now they are questioning [Evans’s] credibility, and the credibility of the detective who was investigating the case. When you’re the D.A., you’d better be dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s. You don’t want something like this coming.”

4. Bill Dooley:

   We still do not know why he did this. We have not established what motivated him to specifically target the Fresno Department, specifically target our annex, and specifically target that detective, as far as we can tell, this was a random attack on our detective.

5. Peyton Lofton:

   Exposed sign and tweets from YALexposed Before that alleged doxxing attempt, he says signs were posted near campus, calling YAL a racist and misogynistic organization and exposing some of its members. Its not clear yet if the three people arrested were behind the @YALexposed Twitter handle. Peyton Lofton said hes also had previous altercations with a student, but didnt want to make anyone a target until all the facts are out. After the alleged arson attack, residents were let back in the building at 1:20 a.m.and 40 minutes later the first officer arrived on the scene. Peyton Lofton says Detective David Harris came to their dorm around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and informed the two Detective David Harris was assigned to the case. They say Peyton Lofton took the burnedsign that was previously on the dooras evidence and was reviewing security footage. Its not clear if the footage Peyton Lofton reviewed helped officers arrest the three suspects. Peyton Lofton says the initial shock is wearing off and that Peyton Lofton family lives20 minutes away in case Peyton Lofton ever feels unsafe. Peyton Lofton says Peyton Lofton wont back down to people trying to spread fear. I dont want to let them win, so I plan on staying on campus and not backing down and work twice as hard i trust that Tulane Police will handle the problem ; Im not nave and still aware of the danger and trying to be as safe as possible. LOUISIANA FIREFIGHTER SAVES PREGNANT WOMAN FROM BURNING VEHICLE : GOD HAS SOMETHING MAJOR FOR YOU ! Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative advocacygroup Turning Point USA, tweeted about the incident. Kirk told Fox its a sick and sad day that someone would attemptan arson attack on another because of their beliefs.

Popularity rank by frequency of use