detectde‧tect /dɪˈtekt/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [transitive] 
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
WORD ORIGINdetect
Origin:
1400-1500 Latin detectus, past participle of detegere ‘to uncover’VERB TABLE
detect
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | detect |
| he, she, it | detects | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | detected |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have detected |
| he, she, it | has detected | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had detected |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will detect |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have detected |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am detecting |
| he, she, it | is detecting | |
| you, we, they | are detecting | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was detecting |
| you, we, they | were detecting | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been detecting |
| he, she, it | has been detecting | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been detecting |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be detecting |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been detecting |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?
- Marlowe detected a faint smell of perfume as he entered the room.
- She wasn't moving or responding, but he detected a slow heartbeat.
- The system is so sensitive that it can detect changes in temperature as small as 0.003 degrees.
- Though the yellow tomatoes are pretty, I couldn't detect much difference in flavor.
- Constance detected a change in the atmosphere as Giancarlo excused himself and walked down the steps to greet his last guest.
- Frequent measurements of visual fields and acuity are obtained to detect optic nerve damage.
- Not all such turncoats are detected.
- Of Hearst the man, Nasaw's careful portrait suggests greater vulnerability and sensitivity than most others have detected.
- The effect is always there, but you'd never detect it.
- The motion is detected by the gauge and translated into a pressure.
THESAURUS
to realize that something is there or that something is happening, because you can see, hear, or feel it: · I noticed that he was rather quiet during dinner.· Children don’t seem to notice the cold.· ‘Julie’s home.’ ‘Yes, I noticed her bicycle outside.’
to notice something that is difficult to see, hear etc because it is very small, faint, or unclear. Detect is used about people and machines, and is more formal than notice: · X-ray telescopes can now detect virtually every type of astronomical object.· He thought he detected a flicker of interest in her eyes.
to notice something, especially something that is difficult to see or that you see for a short time only. Spot is more informal than notice: · Can you spot the difference between these two pictures?· I’m glad you spotted the mistake before it was too late.
to gradually begin to notice that something is happening or is true: · I became aware that Mum was getting a lot older.· Tessa became conscious of a feeling of guilt.
to be able to notice something because you can see, smell, hear it etc: · I could tell that she had been drinking.· Can you tell I’ve lost weight?
used to say that you suddenly notice something or someone because they are interesting, attractive, or good at something: · I saw this shirt in the shop window and it just caught my eye.· Clarke caught the eye of boss Bryan Robson when he scored for Newry last week.
formal to notice something as a result of watching or studying it closely: · Psychologists observed that the mice became more aggressive in smaller cages.
formal to notice something, especially that something is happening, or is true, or needs to be done: · The company quickly perceived the need for change.· Doctors perceive that they do not have adequate time to spend with their patients.
to see something happen because you are there at the time: · People have witnessed some great economic changes during the last ten years.
to not notice something because it is difficult to see: · It’s easy to miss the entrance – the sign is hidden behind a tree.
Longman Language Activatorto notice someone or something to realize that something is there or that something is happening, when you see it, hear it, or feel it: · "Julie's home." "Yes, I noticed her bicycle outside."· Do you notice anything different about my hair?notice (that): · As she was about to leave, she noticed that the kitchen window was open.· Dominic took a huge slice of cake, hoping no one would notice.· I noticed that he was rather quiet during dinner.notice how/when/where etc: · Did you notice what he was wearing?· She was worried that her boss would notice how long she had been gone.notice somebody doing something: · I was about to leave when I noticed someone coming up the driveway.
to know that something is true, because you notice signs that show you this: can see/can tell (that): · We could tell that she had been crying.· I can see you're not really enjoying this.
spoken say this to mention something that you have noticed: I see (that): · I see that the new De Niro movie is playing this weekend.· I see you've been working out.
to see something or someone that is difficult to notice, or something or someone that no one else notices: · I'm glad you spotted the mistake before it was too late.· If you spot Mom and Dad coming, warn me.· I dropped my keys in the grass, but luckily Jim spotted them.spot somebody doing something: · Police finally caught up with Serrano when he was spotted eating in an Upper East Side restaurant.difficult/easy to spot: · She won't be difficult to spot -- she's got pink hair and weighs about 300 pounds.
to gradually begin to notice something: become aware/conscious (that): · I slowly became aware that I was the only woman in the bar.· He became conscious that everyone in the room had suddenly gotten quiet.become aware/conscious of: · It wasn't until after the game that he became aware of the bruises on his legs.· She became conscious of a growing amount of hostility between them.
if something or someone catches your eye , you notice them and like them because they are interesting, attractive, or unusual: · I was walking through the market when a beautiful dress caught my eye.· Wright caught the eye of filmmaker Spike Lee, who featured him in a jeans commercial.
to notice something that is difficult to see, hear etc, especially because it is very small, faint, or unclear: · Marlowe detected a faint smell of perfume as he entered the room.· She wasn't moving or responding, but he detected a slow heartbeat.· Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?· The system is so sensitive that it can detect changes in temperature as small as 0.003 of a degree.
to notice a fact or detail and remember it, because it tells you something about a person or because it might be useful to you in the future: · I noted her habit of looking at the floor whenever I asked her a question.note how/when etc: · He chatted to her, noting how her face reddened every time Ian's name was mentioned.note that: · Note that the compound is more stable at high temperatures.could/can not help but note that: · I couldn't help but note that Jenny doesn't phone or call around to see you anymore.it should be noted that: · It should be noted that the witness did not recognize the defendant.
formal to notice something as a result of watching or studying it closely: · I didn't observe anything out of the ordinary about her behaviour that day.observe that: · Psychologists observed that the mice became more aggressive when they were put in smaller cages.
formal to notice something, especially something that is difficult to notice: · Although Jane thought her father seemed anxious and uneasy, Susan did not perceive any change in his looks or ways.perceive (that): · The prime minister will only resign if he perceives there is no other way out of the crisis.· If they perceive that a military challenge threatens their country's interests, they will not hesitate to fight.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Dan detected a change in her mood. Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Dan detected a change in her mood. Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?· They invented a device for detecting the presence of submarines.
· I could see some signs of improvement in her health.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Free riders may be ostracized because their colleagues can easily detect uncooperative attitudes to the company.· But - the third condition - prey families must not be too easily detected by predators.
NOUN· Bees have a phenomenal ability to detect smells.· At the same time, our ability to detect, contain, and prevent emerging infectious diseases is in jeopardy.· In this way, infants' ability to detect rhythm, grouping, melodies, and other changes over time are explored.· The ability of these to detect unusual strains is untested, Irvin said.· But their ability to detect the feelings of others was close to infallible.· Smoke detectors installed in hotel corridors have an alarming ability not to detect smoke.
· If the software detects unusual activity on an account, it will send a text message to the mobile phone.
· It is these antibodies which will be detected in standard antibody tests.· The Pyloriset detects IgG antibodies by agglutination, using Latex particles coated with acid extracted antigen of H pylori.· Rabbit anti-human immunoglobulin conjugated with alkaline phosphatase was used to detect the bound antibody.
· Between 1982 and 1992 the cost of treating a detected cancer quadrupled.· Thompson said the Pap smear only detects cervical cancer; it does not detect ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer.· Colonoscopic surveillance in colitis should reduce cancer related death compared with routine clinical care, by detecting early curable cancer.· There is not yet a single simple method of detecting cancer, yet this would be invaluable.· Pap smears and pelvic examinations every three years for women to detect cervical cancer.
· On the first issue, teachers are obviously in a crucial position to detect cases of abuse of children in their care.· Barium studies seem to be insensitive to microscopic involvement and may detect only more severe cases.· Until the results of long term follow up are available the ability of our creatine kinase assay to detect Becker cases remains uncertain.· Gel mobility anomaly is detected only in cases where the distance of the two elements is in an appropriate helical phase.
· Acetylation takes place so rapidly the completely that no unchanged 5-ASA can be detected inside the cell.· Smear tests detect precancerous cells and hence are essential to pinpoint the women who are at risk from developing the disease.· No unchanged 5-ASA was detected inside the cell.
· The evidence indicates that the polar regions are among the first to detect changes arising from greenhouse warming.· The manipulated atoms also could be used to detect extremely slight changes in motion.· Looking at him, I couldn't detect much change.· Not by one word or look can we detect any change in the demeanor of these Negro servants.· When this meets some other object, the fish by means of its lateral line can detect the change.· I could detect every shift and change in the bad weather and sea state.· Experts on noble lineage detect a change in the thirty six year old heir.· They quickly detect changes in the visual image and tend to exaggerate them.
· Reaching these wells will involve linking the drill to sophisticated sensing devices which can detect oil-bearing formations.· Samaranch did not elaborate, but he may have been referring to a more high-powered device to detect illegal substances.· Thus the combination of positive feed-back with the rule defined above has the making of a device for detecting unusual combinations.· The other class of devices are designed to detect the relative movement of freely suspended massive blocks.
· Limited specifications in automatic exposure and focusing will disappoint photography buffs, though few would detect tangible differences in the average snapshot.· Just like your language instructor, they can detect the slight differences between certain speech sounds that adults will insist are identical.· This lateral line system enables the fish to detect differences of pressure in the water.· Rex was taking the water temperature three times a day, but it did not need his thermometer to detect the difference.· Many previous studies have sought risk factors retrospectively in the context of trials designed primarily to detect a difference between antiulcer treatments.· Such a person would end up with a few very large schemata and would be unable to detect differences in things.· A partner may not detect the difference and the woman herself may be confused.· He never detected any difference in speed, no matter how far apart the hills he and his assistants climbed.
· However, it is difficult to detect early Wilson's disease, since caeruloplasmin activity is low in the newborn period.· A lab report detects a kidney disease.· Detailed pathological studies to detect subclinical renal disease have not been undertaken.· Timely recognition of emerging infections requires early warning systems to detect new infectious diseases before they become public health crises.
· Therefore, the task of zero-defect design is to detect errors early and rectify them early.· Example 1 above should be detected as an error by analysis of the grammatical categories of the words.· Members can detect each other's errors.· If only a single character is suggested then word knowledge is used to detect and correct errors in the hypothesis.· Additional bits may mark the beginning and end of a message, or help to detect and correct transmission errors.
· Crystals embedded in the back of the chair detect the radioactivity level in the children's bodies.· Both occur naturally in the body, so detecting super-high levels in the system is difficult.· These tensions can be detected at various levels.· Based on the structure of the organ, we think that it is well adapted for detecting very low levels of light.
· Included in protection are methods for detecting likely hazard events and in warning those likely to be affected.· Expand the use of Sentinel Surveillance Networks to complement other surveillance methods for detecting and monitoring emerging infections.· He said that the method can detect toluene in glue sniffers' blood.· There is not yet a single simple method of detecting cancer, yet this would be invaluable.· Topological feature based methods detect and code straight lines and the orientation of strokes.
· Glancing back through what I have written so far, I detect more than a note of cynicism.· As the waves lap in think I detect a note of weariness in the endlessly repeated motion.
· The act of remembering and the act of perceiving both detect a pattern in a very large choice of possible patterns.· All the changes and symptoms that arise are noted and studied to detect patterns and trends that are characteristic and commonly occur.· It could potentially improve care, assist in medical research and help in detecting patterns of insurance fraud.· These can modify their operation to detect temporal and spatial patterns of inputs.
· A biopsy of brain tissue detected the presence of toxoplasmosis, which is relatively harmless in people with normally functioning immune systems.· The new system can detect the presence of dangerous but invisible microorganisms like salmonella and e. coil bacteria.· All fish can detect the presence of objects near them even if they can not see them.· Other chips may detect the presence of moulds or harmful bacteria.· Products of the chain reaction were fractionated by size in agarose gels to detect the presence of insertions or deletions.· Nevertheless, there are various ways by which scientists can detect their presence.· Yet I can still detect the presence of a large lorry or bus out of the extreme corner of my eye.· They detect the presence of carrion by sight.
· Figure 2b illustrates that the exon-enriched probe detects conserved sequences in different species.· Scientists hope the coming generation of Mars probes will detect former hot springs.· Normally the antisense probe is used to detect mRNA whereas the sense probe serves as a negative control.· This probe also detects additional fragments not homologous to the human probe.· Complexes and unbound probe were detected by autoradiography of dried gels.
· Our central sensors would detect any ship coming in from five thousand li out.· He said the ground is planted with sensors that detect footsteps.· A sensor in the appliance detects motion or touch, and starts the timer as soon as the appliance is put down.· The vibration sensor is used to detect movement of the vehicle.· Sensa has also developed pressure and acoustic sensors to detect the water and gas content of oil wells.
· But if so, we might have expected to he contacted by them, or at least to detect their radio signals.· However, some market watchers detected some signals of strength in the underlying data.· This detects signals from radars on the ground that may be aiming missiles or guns at the approaching aircraft.· No rebleeding occurred and Doppler control detected no further arterial signals from the ulceration.
· Ultrasonics technology is used in certain burglar alarm systems which trigger on detecting the sound of breaking glass.· This year, the United States upgraded its disease surveillance system to detect any early outbreak of infection.· This made our system very difficult to detect.· The current system for detecting infectious prion particles is not very sensitive.· The new system can detect the presence of dangerous but invisible microorganisms like salmonella and e. coil bacteria.· Duty and intake systems to detect incipient problems early and to provide a rapid response. 3.
· The cardiovascular tests conventionally used for detecting sympathetic autonomic neuropathy may not be adequate to detect a mild, otherwise asymptomatic neuropathy.· Lab tests failed to detect blood on Hicks' clothing and no weapon was found.· The acetylcholine sweat spot test is an easy, inexpensive, time saving test for detecting autonomic neuropathy.· Two other canisters bearing labels for radioactive material were also found, but preliminary tests failed to detect any radioactivity.· Smear tests detect precancerous cells and hence are essential to pinpoint the women who are at risk from developing the disease.· Although Belinda was 37, she decided against amniocentesis or any other test to detect chromosomal abnormalities.· The aim of the test is to detect conditions that could develop into cancer.
VERB· The keyboard circuits are designed to detect the order of key presses rather than the duration of each key press.· These are designed to detect abilities for leadership and working as team members.· The other class of devices are designed to detect the relative movement of freely suspended massive blocks.
· But the survey has failed to detect any improvement in confidence and the institute is blaming political uncertainties.· Lab tests failed to detect blood on Hicks' clothing and no weapon was found.· She was so caught up in her own feelings that she failed to detect the danger in the question.· Two other canisters bearing labels for radioactive material were also found, but preliminary tests failed to detect any radioactivity.· The group fails to detect the skills and experiences of different members.· Mr Ro earned the boot for failing to detect the public's sensitivities on this point.· Machines can sometimes misread or fail to detect the way ballots are cast.· Some studies they suggest may have failed to detect an effect of parity because they did not concentrate on this risk period.
· It is being increasingly used to detect weakly magnetized features such as postholes, and more deeply buried sites.· She made an appointment for a colposcopy, an inspection of the cervix using magnifying instruments that detects small lesions.· This f is used only to detect when the algorithm has reached a summit or plateau.· Another sensor, a sonar-like apparatus, uses echolocation to detect both distant pressure disturbances and changes of flow patterns nearby.· Normally the antisense probe is used to detect mRNA whereas the sense probe serves as a negative control.· Radon has been used to detect uranium mineralisation and also to locate faults which may control mineral deposition.
WORD FAMILYnoundetectiondetectiveadjectivedetectable ≠ indetectibleverbdetect
to 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