/ dɪˈtektɪv; NAmE / noun ( abbr. Det )
1.
a person, especially a police officer, whose job is to examine crimes and catch criminals :
Detective Inspector (Roger) Brown
detectives from the anti-terrorist squad
a detective story / novel
—see also store detective
2.
a person employed by sb to find out information about sb/sth
—see also private detective
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 19th cent.: from detect . The noun was originally short for detective policeman , from an adjectival use of the word in the sense serving to detect .