detective
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈtɛktɪv/
rhymes: -ɛktɪv
Forms: form: detectives
Etymology: The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. The noun is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction.
Senses: examples: text: He worked as a detective with the agency for five years.
text: 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.
ref: 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!:
topics: government
law-enforcement
synonyms: police detective
glosses: A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.
examples: text: […] Sherlock Holmes remarked calmly. […] "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is. Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime, to set them straight. There is a strong family resemblance about misdeeds, and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the thousand and first.[…]"
ref: 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), pages 12–13:
text: Had they responded this way in France or America, this wouldn't have surprised me, but wasn't everyone in England supposed to be a detective? Wasn't every crime, no matter how complex, solved in a timely fashion by either a professional or a hobbyist? That's the impression you get from British books and TV shows. Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hetty Wainthropp, Inspector George Gently: they come from every class and corner of the country. There’s even Edith Pargeter's Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk who solved crimes in twelfth-century Shrewsbury. No surveillance cameras, no fingerprints, not even a telephone, and still he cracked every case that came his way.
ref: 2013 March 25, David Sedaris, "Long Way Home" in The New Yorker
glosses: A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
Synonyms: topics: law-enforcement
government
word: DT
topics: law-enforcement
government
word: Det
topics: law-enforcement
government
word: Det.
sense: person employed to find information
word: private detective
sense: person employed to find information
word: private investigator
sense: person employed to find information
word: dick
sense: person employed to find information
word: private dick
sense: person employed to find information
word: gumshoe
word: sleuth
word: beagle
word: bloodhound
word: detective
word: hawkshaw
word: investigator
word: Sherlock
word: sleuthhound
word: 'tec
Hyponyms: word: private investigator
word: eye
word: PI
word: private detective
word: private dick
word: private eye
word: shamus
word: snoop
word: house detective
word: house dick
word: cyberdetective
word: cybersleuth
word: superdetective
word: superdick
word: supersleuth
Derived terms: word: antidetective
word: cyberdetective
word: detective gag
word: detectivelike
word: detective story
word: detective work
word: dogtective
word: house detective
topics: law-enforcement
government
alt: DCI
word: detective chief inspector
topics: law-enforcement
government
alt: DCS
word: detective chief superintendent
topics: law-enforcement
government
english: DC
translation: DC
word: detective constable
topics: law-enforcement
government
english: DI
translation: DI
word: detective inspector
topics: law-enforcement
government
alt: DS
word: detective sergeant
topics: law-enforcement
government
alt: DSupt.
word: detective superintendent
topics: law-enforcement
government
alt: WDC
word: woman detective constable
word: nondetective
word: private detective
word: store detective
word: stump detective
word: superdetective
Related terms: detect
detection
detector