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# detect

verb (detect, detects, detected, detecting); nouns detection, detector, detective

«detect» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To notice or discover something that is hard to see, hear or smell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#m1)
2. To find something using a special tool or test (detect smoke, detect metal). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science: instruments detect things we can't sense (radiation, sound waves); our senses detect light and sound. In safety: smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms detect danger. In stories: detectives detect clues.

### Examples

- The smoke alarm detected the burnt toast. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x1)
- Dogs can detect smells we can't. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x2)
- Scientists detected water on Mars. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x3)
- I detected a hint of sadness in his voice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x4)
- The scanner detects metal in bags. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x5)
- Bats detect insects using echoes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x6)
- The Sultan could not detect any difference between them, and he told his aunt that he would not be so cruel as to kill all three. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/#x7)

### Note

Nouns: detector (machine), detective (person), detection (the act). Check smoke detectors work by pressing the test button.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «detect» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detect/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«detect» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/detect.html) on Mova free.