Meaning

2 senses
  1. (informal, intransitive, uncommon)To be or act as or like a detective.

  2. (informal, transitive, uncommon)To investigate or find information about (someone or something) as or like a detective.

Examples

359 sentences
  1. The detectives found no other evidence.

    Детективи не виявили жодних доказів. — triantafillou

    ruНикаких прочих улик сыщики не нашли. — Karok

  2. Tom is a pretty good detective.

    Том доволі непоганий детектив. — deniko

    ruТом довольно хороший детектив. — Smoky

    deTom ist ein ziemlich guter Detektiv. — wolfgangth

  3. I felt like reading the detective story.

    Мені здавалося, що я читаю детектив. — shanghainese

    ruМне казалось, что я читаю детектив. — Hellerick

  4. Did you know Tom was a detective?

    Ти знав, що Том був детективом? — deniko

    ruТы знал, что Том был детективом? — sharptoothed

  5. Why don't you hire a private detective?

    Чому б тобі не найняти приватного детектива? — miketheknight

    ruПочему бы вам не нанять частного детектива? — marafon

    deSchalte doch einen Privatdetektiv ein! — Pfirsichbaeumchen

Origin

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect

The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. By surface analysis, detect + -ive.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

detectives, detectiving, detectived, detectived
Base formdetective · to detective
3rd person singulardetectives
Present participledetectiving
Past simpledetectived
Past participledetectived

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydetective
he, she, itdetectives

Past simpleLesson

all personsdetectived

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave detectived
he, she, ithas detectived

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill detective

Word family

1 related words

Collocations

12 patterns
  • a private detective
  • private detective
  • a homicide detective
  • reading detective novels
  • detective novels
  • homicide detective
  • reading detective stories
  • hired a detective
  • reading detective
  • detective stories
  • police detective
  • the police detective

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
detective — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto