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

The program allows the purchase of drones, body scanners, metal detectors, cellphone signal blockers, X-ray machines, audio and video systems, radar, DNA tracking equipment and vehicles, among other things. —ABC News, 12 May 2026

Shorter was caught on camera as the metal detectors went off. —Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026

Hoagland handed me a small metal detector—the Minelab Gold Monster 2000—and began his lesson. —Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

Later — after a brief shot of Alicia walking the grounds with a metal detector — the women gather yet again for dinner. —Tom Smyth, Vulture, 4 May 2026

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