detector

[ dih-tek-ter ]

/ dɪˈtɛk tər /

a person or thing that detects.

a device for detecting smoke, fire, or some other hazardous condition.

a device for detecting the presence of metal, contraband, or other items that might be hidden or concealed.

Telecommunications.

a device for detecting electric oscillations or waves.
a device, as a crystal detector or a vacuum tube, that rectifies the alternating current in a radio receiver.

Origin of detector

1535–45; < Late Latin dētēctor revealer, equivalent to Latin dēteg(ere) to uncover, reveal (see detect) + -tor -tor

In the morning, I open the detector, and there is the dial that tells if he has done his duty.

Fighting the Sea |Edward A. Rand
The captain sends an officer below to the detector and changes the course of the ship.

Our Navy in the War |Lawrence Perry
But of course they didn't have our detector screens nor our armament.

Triplanetary |Edward Elmer Smith
I am shaved by one every morning, after slipping the coppers into a County Council "detector," which gives no change.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105 December 23rd, 1893 |Various

The static—from the discharge—would tear—our detector—to pieces.

The Man Who Rocked the Earth |Arthur Train

detector

/ (dɪˈtɛktə) /

a person or thing that detects

any mechanical sensing device

electronics a device used in the detection of radio signals