ALL meanings of detective
de·tec·tive
D d - countable noun detective A detective is someone whose job is to discover what has happened in a crime or other situation and to find the people involved. Some detectives work in the police force and others work privately. 3
- noun detective In Britain 'detective' is used before words such as 'constable' or 'sergeant', and in the U.S. the word 'detective' is used on its own, to indicate that a police officer is a member of the department concerned with investigating crimes. 3
- adjective detective A detective novel or story is one in which a detective tries to solve a crime. 3
- noun detective a police officer who investigates crimes 3
- noun detective (as modifier) 3
- adjective detective used in or serving for detection 3
- adjective detective serving to detect 3
- adjective detective of or for detection 3
- adjective detective of detectives and their work 3
- noun detective a person on a police force, whose work is investigating and trying to solve crimes 3
- noun detective a person working privately to investigate crimes, gather information, etc. 3
- noun detective A person, especially a police officer, whose occupation is to investigate and solve crimes. 1
- noun detective a member of the police force or a private investigator whose function is to obtain information and evidence, as of offenses against the law. 1
- adjective detective of or relating to detection or detectives: a detective story. 1
- adjective detective serving to detect; detecting: various detective devices. 1
- noun detective police inspector 1
- noun detective of crime fiction 1
- noun detective (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator. 0
- noun detective A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public. 0