detector

A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning.

Noun

  1. A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning.
    • Smoke detectors are mandatory in public buildings.
    • At 2255, it passed a hot axle box detector at Great Bridgeford. No problem here - the detector detected no abnormal temperatures anywhere in the consist. - 2026 March 18, Greg Morse, “1996 crash driving freight...

    1. An indicator showing the depth of the water in a boiler.

    2. A galvanometer, usually portable, for indicating the direction of a current.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin dētēctor. Equals detect + -or (agent noun forming suffix).

Forms

detectors

Derived

autodetector bat detector biodetector Canny edge detector CO detector cryodetector currency detector detector bar detectorism detectorist detectorless detector van duct detector electron capture detector envelope detector Everhart-Thornley detector fluorodetector geodetector heat detector junction detector lie detector lightning detector lithium-drifted silicon detector metal detector