Library / English Dictionary

DETECTIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A police officer who investigates crimes

Synonyms:

detective; investigator; police detective; tec

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("detective" is a kind of...):

officer; police officer; policeman (a member of a police force)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "detective"):

dick; gumshoe; hawkshaw (someone who is a detective)

plainclothesman (a detective who wears civilian clothes on duty)

tracer (an investigator who is employed to find missing persons or missing goods)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("detective" is a kind of...):

investigator (someone who investigates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "detective"):

operative; PI; private detective; private eye; private investigator; shamus; sherlock (someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information)

sleuth; sleuthhound (a detective who follows a trail)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I don’t know how you manage this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When you have finished, come downstairs with me, and I will introduce you to a detective who is a very eminent specialist in the work that lies before us.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I struck a match and lit the detective’s lantern.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force!

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You wonder,” said my companion, “why it is that Mycroft does not use his powers for detective work. He is incapable of it.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The detective mounted the stairs, and our lamp gleamed upon his shining waterproof.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“By George! it’s Black Gorgiano himself!” cried the American detective.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a black canvas bag in his hand.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the meantime, the matter is being actively investigated, Mr. Lestrade, one of the very smartest of our detective officers, being in charge of the case.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I am a private detective, and I am endeavouring to explain his disappearance.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)