detector Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner
    sensing element; sensor.
  2. noun rectifier that extracts modulation from a radio carrier wave
    demodulator.
  3. noun electronic equipment that detects the presence of radio signals or radioactivity

WordNet

De*tect"or noun
Etymology
L., a revealer.
Definitions
  1. One who, or that which, detects; a detecter. Shak.
    A deathbed's detector of the heart. Young.

Webster 1913