From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdetectde‧tect /dɪˈtekt/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [transitive] NOTICEto notice or discover something, especially something that is not easy to see, hear etc Many forms of cancer can be cured if detected early.difficult/impossible/easy/possible etc to detectdetect a change/difference Dan detected a change in her mood.detect a note of sarcasm/irony/excitement etc Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?► see thesaurus at notice —detectable adjective→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
detect• Not all such turncoats are detected.• Of Hearst the man, Nasaw's careful portrait suggests greater vulnerability and sensitivity than most others have detected.• Constance detected a change in the atmosphere as Giancarlo excused himself and walked down the steps to greet his last guest.• Marlowe detected a faint smell of perfume as he entered the room.• Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?• She wasn't moving or responding, but he detected a slow heartbeat.• The motion is detected by the gauge and translated into a pressure.• The system is so sensitive that it can detect changes in temperature as small as 0.003 degrees.• The effect is always there, but you'd never detect it.• Though the yellow tomatoes are pretty, I couldn't detect much difference in flavor.• Frequent measurements of visual fields and acuity are obtained to detect optic nerve damage.difficult/impossible/easy/possible etc to detect• Front running is not always easy to detect.• Most are modern, quiet, diesel-electric submarines, which can be difficult to detect.• Richards acknowledged that some forgery techniques are virtually impossible to detect.• Thallium was an Alfa Romeo among poisons, its charm being the fact that it was almost impossible to detect.• The SeHCAT test has made intestinal bile acid malabsorption much more easy to detect.• Additions and embellishments can be more difficult to detect, and here of course the cooperation of the art historian is essential.• In most cases, it is difficult to detect that some one is eavesdropping.• Metaphors have side effects, although sometimes it is difficult to detect them until they have had a considerable influence upon us.Origin detect (1400-1500) Latin detectus, past participle of detegere “to uncover” 