metal detector
55
3.5
- noun
- /ˈmɛtəl dɪˈtɛktər/
:
detector de metales
- The treasure hunter carefully swept his metal detector over the ground, hoping to find buried coins.
- pass through metal detectors
- use a metal detector
- metal detectors and security
So I said, Chris, get the metal detector and I had to go back.
- So I said, Chris, get the metal detector and I had to go back.
- You know you can they're dense, but you can get a lot of value, which will not set off a metal detector.
- So we were out there, we had specially configured metal detectors for these metals and we did find these OK.
- Yeah, there was like metal detectors like my last year there too.
- Steel doors, metal detectors, bars from the windows in the same neighborhood.
Examples
-
Mikey is a few yards behind them, playing with his metal detector.
Fiction book (1996) -
There were more guards and another metal detector at the Quadrille Street entrance.
Fiction book (1997) -
Especially since they put in new metal detectors.
-
- Are there metal detectors in here?
-
My hair set off the metal detector at the airport.
-
Is that a metal detector?
-
I remember clearly the first metal detector we had.
Academic text (2014) -
Would they have to go through a metal detector or show ID to get in?
Fiction book (1999) -
We can work systematically in this area using the metal detector.
-
Now another man moved slowly along, near the tide line, sweeping a metal detector over the hard red sand.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
898
3.4
A device that notices heat, light, pressure, or movement and sends a signal
189
3.5
A device that senses things like metal, movement, or radioactivity
How Sensitive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'metal' (the substance) + 'detector' (an instrument that detects), so a device that detects metal. This noun–noun composition follows a common, cross-linguistically familiar pattern (e.g. Spanish 'detector de metales'), making it immediately inferable by a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Metal detector is a small machine you sweep over the ground or people and it beeps when it is near metal. Because of that clear image of sweeping and a beep, it means 'a device that finds hidden or unwanted metal'.