detective
See also: détective
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɪˈtɛktɪv/
- Rhymes: -ɛktɪv
Noun
detective (plural detectives)
- (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator.
- 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!:
- The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them.
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- A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
Synonyms
- (law enforcement): DT (abbreviation), Det (abbreviation)
- (person employed to find information): private detective, private investigator
- (person employed to find information): (slang) dick, private dick
- sleuth
Derived terms
Terms derived from detective
- (law enforcement, UK): detective constable (DC)
- (law enforcement, UK): detective sergeant (DS)
- (law enforcement, UK): detective inspector (DI)
- (law enforcement, UK): detective chief inspector (DCI)
- detective story
- (law enforcement, UK): detective superintendent (DSupt.)
- (law enforcement, UK): detective chief superintendent (DCS)
- detective work
- house detective
- private detective
- (law enforcement, UK, archaic): woman detective constable (WDC)
Translations
police officer who looks for evidence
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person employed to find information
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Adjective
detective (not comparable)
- Employed in detecting.
Asturian
Galician
Portuguese
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /deteɡˈtibe/, [d̪et̪eɣˈt̪iβe]
Usage notes
- detective may be masculine or feminine, but the less common detectiva exists for female detectives as well.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “detective” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
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