detected; detecting; detects
1
: to discover the true character of
detecting drug smugglers
2
: to discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
detect alcohol in the blood
Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?
3
: to work as a detective
Examples of detect in a Sentence
The test is used to detect the presence of alcohol in the blood.
This type of cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages.
Recent Examples on the Web
Comprehensive protective intelligence including digital risk and threat monitoring to scan for and detect threats on social media and deep and dark web venues, as well as continual assessment of the threat landscape and the executive’s evolving profile.
—
Control Risks, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
In providing additional transit times for planets detected by Kepler more than a decade later, PLATO will improve measurements of TTVs to enable the discovery of more misaligned worlds.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Space.com, 15 July 2025
In total, 55 different compounds, out of the thousands of types of PFAS, were analyzed, and 35 were detected in about 63 percent of the sites.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 July 2025
New advances in telescopes and instruments could eventually give astronomers the ability to detect the faint objects through viewing.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for detect
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Control Risks, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
In providing additional transit times for planets detected by Kepler more than a decade later, PLATO will improve measurements of TTVs to enable the discovery of more misaligned worlds.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Space.com, 15 July 2025
In total, 55 different compounds, out of the thousands of types of PFAS, were analyzed, and 35 were detected in about 63 percent of the sites.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 July 2025
New advances in telescopes and instruments could eventually give astronomers the ability to detect the faint objects through viewing.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for detect
Cite this Entry
“Detect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detect. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
detect
verb
de·tect
di-ˈtekt 
: to discover the nature, existence, presence, or fact of
detect the approach of an airplane
detection
noun
-ˈtek-shən
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