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# detective

noun (a detective, detectives); adjective (detective story, detective work)

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

## Everyday

1. A detective is a police officer or private worker whose job is to find out who did a crime and how. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#m1)
2. Anyone who looks closely at clues to solve a puzzle or mystery. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#m2)
3. As an adjective: about solving crimes, as in «detective story» or «detective work». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#m3)

### In the lessons

Common in stories, TV shows and puzzle games. Phrases: «private detective», «detective story», «play detective», «do some detective work». In school, «be a maths detective» means look for clues in a problem to find the answer.

### Examples

- The detective found a muddy footprint by the window. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x1)
- Sherlock Holmes is a famous detective in stories. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x2)
- My sister loves reading detective books. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x3)
- Let's be maths detectives and find the missing number. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x4)
- A private detective was hired to find the lost dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x5)
- It took some detective work to find where my sock went. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x6)
- The detective asked everyone where they had been. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/#x7)

### Note

Countable: a detective, two detectives. Informal shortenings: «detective» is sometimes «D.I.» (UK, detective inspector) or «a PI» (private investigator, US). Related: detect (verb), detection. A detective is not always a police officer — some are private.

## On Mova

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