English Dictionary

Define dictionary terms easily in our powerful online English dictionary.

Searching for...

No matching words found

Try a different search term or browse the dictionary

Definition detective in British English

detective noun

[countable] noun
/dɪˈtektɪv/
1

a police officer whose job is to try to discover information about a crime so that the criminal can be caught

Synonyms and related words
2

someone who is paid by other people to find out information

Example

a detective agency

Synonyms and related words
3

a detective story or film is one in which a detective tries to solve a crime

Example

I'm reading a detective novel.

Synonyms and related words
Definition detective in British English