detection
Americannoun
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the act of detecting.
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the fact of being detected.
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discovery, as of error or crime.
chance detection of smuggling.
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Telecommunications.
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rectification of alternating signal currents in a radio receiver.
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Also called demodulation. the conversion of an alternating, modulated carrier wave or current into a direct, pulsating current equivalent to the transmitted information-bearing signal.
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noun
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the act of discovering or the fact of being discovered
detection of crime
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the act or process of extracting information, esp at audio or video frequencies, from an electromagnetic wave See also demodulation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of detection
1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin dētēctiōn- (stem of dētēctiō ), equivalent to Latin dētēct ( us ) ( see detect) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Detection is the act of noticing or discovering something. At the airport, you might see German Shepherds trained in the detection of drug smuggling or explosives in luggage. Detection, detect, detective, detector — all are about noticing and discovering. A detective looks for clues that lead to the detection of the person who committed a crime. A metal detector is a machine created for the detection of coins people have left behind on the beach. Some teachers seem to have a third eye they use primarily for the detection of kids passing notes, or checking their cell phones during class.
Vocabulary lists containing detection
This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 30–February 5, 2021
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"Journeys," Vocabulary from Lesson 13
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"Introduction to Homeland Security," Vocabulary from Chapter 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some employees feared the team’s detection tool wasn’t comprehensive, according to people familiar with the concerns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Kratsios said Moonshot built "a sophisticated internal platform to conduct large-scale distillation against U.S. models," which allowed the company "to quickly switch between multiple methods of access to avoid detection."
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
For particle detection, this ability is particularly useful because the light inside a scintillator may be extremely faint.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Early detection and rapid response are critical to preventing the pest from spreading further,” the agency wrote in its warning about the infestation in Costco plants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
So I decided to do some more detection on my own.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
Marine mammals have also been affected, with some detections in other animals such as cats, goats, alpacas and pigs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
That suggests particles like this are exceptionally rare, meaning any proposed explanation must also account for the lack of comparable detections.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026
In research published in March 2026, I examined millions of meteor detections recorded by all sky camera systems in Canada, Japan, California and Europe.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
In November, BA.3.2 was identified in a wastewater sample in Rhode Island; and among patients, the first detections of the new subvariant were found in three different states in December and early January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
One game was a paper with lines in all detections and lots of boxs.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.