Definitions for detector
dɪˈtɛk tərde·tec·tor

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. detector, sensor, sensing elementnoun

   any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner

2. detector, demodulatornoun

   rectifier that extracts modulation from a radio carrier wave

3. detectornoun

   electronic equipment that detects the presence of radio signals or radioactivity

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. detectornoun

   A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon.

   Smoke detectors are mandatory in public buildings.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. detector

   A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends the information to other electronics, frequently a computer processor. Sensors are always used with other electronics. Sensors are used in everyday objects such as touch-sensitive elevator buttons (tactile sensor) and lamps which dim or brighten by touching the base, and in innumerable applications of which most people are never aware. With advances in micromachinery and easy-to-use microcontroller platforms, the uses of sensors have expanded beyond the traditional fields of temperature, pressure and flow measurement, for example into MARG sensors. Analog sensors such as potentiometers and force-sensing resistors are still widely used. Their applications include manufacturing and machinery, airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine, robotics and many other aspects of our day-to-day life. There is a wide range of other sensors that measure chemical and physical properties of materials, including optical sensors for refractive index measurement, vibrational sensors for fluid viscosity measurement, and electro-chemical sensors for monitoring pH of fluids. A sensor's sensitivity indicates how much its output changes when the input quantity it measures changes. For instance, if the mercury in a thermometer moves 1 cm when the temperature changes by 1 °C, its sensitivity is 1 cm/°C (it is basically the slope dy/dx assuming a linear characteristic). Some sensors can also affect what they measure; for instance, a room temperature thermometer inserted into a hot cup of liquid cools the liquid while the liquid heats the thermometer. Sensors are usually designed to have a small effect on what is measured; making the sensor smaller often improves this and may introduce other advantages.Technological progress allows more and more sensors to be manufactured on a microscopic scale as microsensors using MEMS technology. In most cases, a microsensor reaches a significantly faster measurement time and higher sensitivity compared with macroscopic approaches. Due to the increasing demand for rapid, affordable and reliable information in today's world, disposable sensors—low-cost and easy‐to‐use devices for short‐term monitoring or single‐shot measurements—have recently gained growing importance. Using this class of sensors, critical analytical information can be obtained by anyone, anywhere and at any time, without the need for recalibration and worrying about contamination.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Detectornoun

   one who, or that which, detects; a detecter

2. Etymology: [L., a revealer.]

FreebaseRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Detector

   A detector is a device that recovers information of interest contained in a modulated wave. The term dates from the early days of radio when all transmissions were in Morse code, and it was only necessary to detect the presence of a radio wave using a device such as a coherer without necessarily making it audible. A more up-to-date term is demodulator, but "detector" has a history of many decades of use, even if it is a misnomer.

The Standard Electrical DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Detector

   A portable galvanometer, often of simple construction, used for rough or approximate work.

Matched Categories

1. • Electronic Equipment
   • Rectifier

How to pronounce detector?

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 detector in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of detector in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of detector in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of detector in a Sentence

1. Lynnell Frenning-Wallace:

   This lady from Holland contacted me through Facebook Messenger and said her father was looking with a metal detector in the area of Market Garden in Holland and he found my dad’s helmet from World War 2, i said I would pay the postage on it and he said, ‘absolutely not, I will send it free of charge’.

2. Pamela McPherson:

   When you go through that metal detector and those series of locked doors, and then you see children playing and women walking around carrying young children, it's just sort of a surreal experience, i don't think you can experience that without questioning,' Why are these children in a secure facility ? Why are these children in what used to be an adult prison ?' It's jarring.

3. Hillary Clinton:

   He took a lie detector test. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs, oh, he plea bargained. Got him off with time served in the county jail, he’d been in the county jail about two months.

4. Elisa Resconi:

   If the characterization of the site proves to be excellent, one could consider how a full-scale neutrino observatory might be deployed on a relatively fast timescale thanks to the existing deep-water infrastructure, a neutrino detector array operated in the Pacific would ideally complement IceCube and its second generation at South Pole.

5. Bobby Davidson:

   For instance, in Maryland, it is not required to have a carbon monoxide detector in the house, so, if you are planning a vacation along the Maryland shore, you should know the state requirements may not require a CO detector be installed in that particular rental facility.

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