detectorn.
/dᵻˈtɛktə/, U.S. /dəˈtɛktər/, /diˈtɛktər/ He who or that which detects.† 1. A person or thing that discloses, brings to light, or reveals; one who informs against or accuses; a revealer; an informer, an accuser. Obsolete.
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society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > [noun] > one who or that which discloses or reveals
bewrayerc1440
revelatorc1443
revealer1492
disclosera1513
detector1541
unmasker1605
dark lantern1616
unlocker1619
eye-opener1928
society > communication > information > informing on or against > [noun] > informer
wrayerc1000
wrobberc1300
discoverera1400
denunciator1474
informer1503
denouncer1533
detector1541
delatora1572
sycophant1579
inquisitor1580
scout1585
finger man1596
emphanista1631
quadruplator1632
informant1645
eastee-man1681
whiddler1699
runner1724
stag1725
snitch1785
qui tam1788
squeak1795
split1819
clype1825
telegraph1825
snitcher1827
Jack Nasty1837
pigeon1847
booker1863
squealer1865
pig1874
rounder1884
sneak1886
mouse1890
finger1899
fizgig1902
screamer1902
squeaker1903
canary1912
shopper1924
narker1932
snurge1933
cheese eater1935
singer1935
tip-off1941
top-off1941
tout1959
rat fink1961
whistle-blower1970
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > [noun] > one who accuses of crime
wrayerc1000
appellorc1400
criminatora1425
appeacher1440
taintor1451
denunciator1474
approverc1475
appealer1519
denouncer1533
detector1541
impeacher1552
peacher1570
delatora1572
approvant1587
appellant1597
exhibitera1616
exhibitant1818
incriminator1838
rapper1904
1541 T. Paynell tr. Felicius Conspiracie of Catiline xxxiv. f. 52 The detectour is false and corrupted with mede.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Encuseur, a detecter, discloser, appeacher, accuser.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §18. 554 As a reward, vnto the detectors of lands concealed.
1637 J. Bastwick More Full Answer to Exceptions against Letany 3/2 Those should be punished, that were detectors and manifesters of them.
1684 R. Baxter Catholick Communion 30 This is to comply with the World, that taketh the detecter only for the sinner.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 39 A Death-Bed's a Detector of the Heart. Here tir'd Dissimulation drops her Masque.
2. One who finds out that which is artfully concealed, or which tends to elude observation.
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the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > detection > one who detects
detector1608
scenter-out1838
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xii. 13 O heauens that his treason were, or not I the detecter . View more context for this quotation
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1657 (1955) III. 186 Dr. Joylife..first detecter of the lymphatic veins.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Detecter, a discoverer, one that finds out what another desires to hide.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1763 I. 221 Rev. Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Carlisle, the great detecter of impostures.
1840 J. S. Mill Bentham in Diss. & Disc. (1859) I. 352 The keenest detector of the errors of his predecessors.
3. An instrument or device for detecting the presence of anything liable to escape observation, for indicating any deviation from normal conditions, or the like.
a. An arrangement in a lock by which any attempt to tamper with it is indicated and frustrated.
b. A low-water indicator for a boiler.
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c. A small portable galvanometer, which indicates the flow and direction of a current of electricity, used for testing purposes.
d. An apparatus for detecting the presence of torpedoes under water, a torpedo-detector.
e. attributive in various senses, as detector-bar, detector-galvanometer, detector-lock, detector-pad, detector-spring, etc.
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1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 275 His success in this attempt was not better than before, for he overlifted the detector of each lock.
1850 J. Chubb On Constr. Locks & Keys 13 F is the detector-spring.
1860 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 114/2 A ‘detector’ or common telegraphic galvanometer.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 690/2 Chubb had a detector in his lock of 1818.
1889 G. Findlay Working & Managem. Eng. Railway 75 ‘Detector Bars’ are employed on parts of the line which cannot be seen by the signalman, to prevent the signals being lowered when the line is occupied by a train.
1889 G. Findlay Working & Managem. Eng. Railway 75 ‘Detector Locks’ are applied to facing points, and are worked by the wire that works the signals.
1893 Munro et al. Pocket Bk. of Electr. Rules (ed. 9) 395 Cells should be tested on the thick wire of a detector.
1893 Munro et al. Pocket Bk. of Electr. Rules (ed. 9) 396 For fault inspection, a detector or galvanometer, a battery, knife, etc.
1894 Catalogue Galvanometers and Measuring Instruments:—Detector Galvanometer, wound for intensity, resistance up to 500 Ohms.
1940 Illustr. London News 196 192/1 Imagine that two vehicles are converging on the crossing, the one on the Twyford road being nearer the junction... The former would reach his detector-pad first, and cause the lights to change in his favour.
f. A high-frequency rectifier used in wireless telegraphy.
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1895 S. P. Thompson Elem. Lessons Electr. & Magn. (1899) ii. xiv. 557 Using such a detector,..Lodge has shown how these electric waves can pass hundreds of feet through walls.
g. Any of various devices or circuits designed to carry out detection (sense 3).
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the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > instrument for detection > [noun]
detector1894
sniffer1945
1894 O. Lodge Work of Hertz & Successors 29 We can easily see the detector respond to a distant source of radiation now..separated from the receiver, therefore, by several walls and some heavily gilded paper, as well as by 20 or 30 yards of space.
1898 Science Siftings 11 June 117/2 A Hertz-wave ‘detector’ resistance included in the circuit.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 232/2 The coherer, or detector, is inserted between the earth and the outer end of this last wire.
1924 Wireless Weekly 8 Oct. 744/2 Seven valves (all ‘peanuts’), used successively as first detector, oscillator valve, three stages of intermediate frequency, second detector valve, and one stage of transformer-coupled note-magnification.
1928 Morning Post 6 Feb. 3/4 The nature of the circuit connected to the detector helps to determine the amplification.
1957 D. G. Fink Television Engin. Handbk. xvi. 148 The separation of the luminance signal, the chrominance subcarrier, and the sound carrier is carried out at the second detector.
4. In full bank-note detector: A published list of current bank-notes, formerly in use as a guide to their real value. U.S.
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1893 Congr. Rec. 25 Aug. 936/2 We had throughout Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio what is known as blue-dog and yellow-pup, where every man had to carry a detector with him.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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