Definition of Detective

1. Noun. A police officer who investigates crimes.

Exact synonyms: Investigator, Police Detective, Tec
Specialized synonyms: Dick, Gumshoe, Hawkshaw, Plainclothesman, Tracer
Generic synonyms: Officer, Police Officer, Policeman
Derivative terms: Investigate

2. Noun. An investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public.

Definition of Detective

1. a. Fitted for, or skilled in, detecting; employed in detecting crime or criminals; as, a detective officer.

2. n. One who business it is so detect criminals or discover matters of secrecy.

Definition of Detective

1. Noun. (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator. ¹

2. Noun. A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Detective

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Detective

detaxation
detect
detectabilities
detectability
detectable
detectably
detected
detecter
detecters
detecteth
detectible
detecting
detection
detection dog
detections
detective
detective agency
detective novel
detective story
detective work
detectivelike
detectives
detectograph
detectographs
detector
detector coil
detector van
detectorist
detectorists
detectors

Literary usage of Detective

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. American Police Systems by Raymond Blaine Fosdick (1920)
"The chief of the detective bureau.—How he is selected. ... Lack of co-ordination in detective work.— Lack of business methods in detective work. ..."

2. Publishers Weekly by Publishers' Board of Trade (U.S.), Book Trade Association of Philadelphia, American Book Trade Union, Am. Book Trade Association, R.R. Bowker Company (1912)
"The Detective Story of the Season з STERY BOULE I CABINET i BURTON E STEVEN:SO ... And the difficulty always is to find good detective stories to sell them. ..."

3. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1844)
"The demand for the roman po/icier, a detective novel, or mystery story, has never been ... But, although the French publishers of detective novels are still ..."

4. The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells (1913)
"CHAPTER VII THE Detective The all-important character of the Detective Story is, of course, the Detective. He is not only the Star Performer, but the reason ..."

5. The Bookman (1910)
"__ veals itself until about I realise, of course, that if first clues counted for anything in detective novels, we would not have many of the latter. Why? ..."

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