metal detector

noun

plural metal detectors

: a device that detects the presence of hidden metal: such as

a

: a security device that scans individuals for dangerous objects (such as weapons)

I boarded the plane armed with several frying thermometers, which set off the metal detector …

—Jeffrey Steingarten

Once inside the theater, the crowd had to pass through an airport-style metal detector as a security precaution.

—Richard Zoglin

b

: a handheld apparatus that uses electrical induction (see induction sense 4c) to detect the presence of metallic objects (such as coins or jewelry) buried a short distance underground

A local man using a metal detector stumbled upon the site last March. He found two copper brooches, or pins, measuring four inches across.

—Time for Kids

Examples of metal detector in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Currently, patrons visiting the area on Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. must go through metal detectors and can’t have items like guns and knives. —Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 26 June 2025

Schools themselves have tried multiple approaches to handling harassment at meetings, including adding police officers, metal detectors and limiting parental comment, although some argue the moves to secure meetings might have had unintended consequences in raising the temperature. —Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 19 June 2025

Visitors pass through a metal detector and have their photo taken on the way in and out. —James Wagner, New York Times, 17 May 2025

Using metal detectors and magnetometers, the team was able to locate large bits of steel and iron protruding from the seafloor that turned out to be parts of the frame and windlass, the machine used to reel in the anchor. —Kameryn Griesser, CNN Money, 16 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for metal detector

• photodetector
• bisector
• collector
• connector
• corrector
• defector
• deflector
• director
• dissector
• effector
• ejector
• elector