sleuth

1 of 2

noun

sleuth

2 of 2

verb

sleuthed; sleuthing; sleuths

intransitive verb

: to act as a detective : search for information

transitive verb

: to search for and discover

Did you know?

"They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Those canine tracks in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles set the great Sherlock Holmes sleuthing on the trail of a murderer. It was a case of art imitating etymology. When Middle English speakers first borrowed sleuth from Old Norse, the term referred to "the track of an animal or person." In Scotland, sleuthhound referred to a bloodhound used to hunt game or track down fugitives from justice. In 19th-century U.S. English, sleuthhound became an epithet for a detective and was soon shortened to sleuth. From there, it was only a short leap to turning sleuth into a verb describing what a sleuth does.

Examples of sleuth in a Sentence

Noun the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Despite efforts by the local police, federal agents, amateur sleuths and not a few journalists, no one has found any of the 13 works lost in the largest art theft in history, including a rare Vermeer and three precious Rembrandts. Tom Mashberg, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024 In a January vlog, DDG (real name Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) joked about the internet sleuths who looked into his girlfriend’s pregnancy. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024 Viewers may notice that the case-of-the-week format, in which the sleuth notices things the police don’t, isn’t exactly carving out new ground. Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 29 Feb. 2024 Greetings online sleuths, true crime addicts, conspiracy theorists, and Swifites with an unnerving ability to sniff out video Easter eggs, and welcome to day 60 of Britain’s Missing Princess. Raven Smith, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2024 But a lot of the sleuths don’t believe Bryan’s guilty. Addie Morfoot, Variety, 6 Feb. 2024 Data sleuths have gotten better and better at spotting such lazy manipulations, including copied-and-pasted duplicates that are sometimes rotated and adjusted for size, brightness, and contrast. Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 22 Jan. 2024 The man who promised her the world is left with nothing, and soon, he is exposed everywhere: As the series unfolded, internet sleuths raced to uncover Legion’s true identity. Amanda Hess, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 According to luxury industry sleuth Miss Tweed, the Sandoz Family Foundation, may be looking to offload its most famous asset. Carol Besler, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2024
Verb
Instead, get a little bit more creative by sleuthing vintage shops, swap markets, and antique shows to purchase one-of-a-kind and eclectic furniture and decor items that will compliment your home and expand your world point of view. Dominique Fluker, Essence, 8 Dec. 2023 This season, shopping fall’s biggest shoe trends don’t mean skipping the sales—our shopping editors have sleuthed in-seasonal scores as part of Amazon Prime Day shoe deals. Maia Torres, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2023 To parse writing, AI models sleuth through textual clues, such as word choices, to see their connections. Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2023 In 1994, The New Republic sent him on assignment to Little Rock, Arkansas, to sleuth around the financial paper trail known as Whitewater. Jonathan Lethem, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023 One redditor sleuthed that The Afterparty season three is already in the works, according to an Instagram story posted by writer Katie Miller. Town & Country, 2 Aug. 2023 Two button clicks later, the usage type was corrected; part — but not all — of that was a dishwasher cycle, while the rest remains to be sleuthed out. Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2023 Over a five-year research period, the pair, along with curatorial assistant in Latino art and history Carolina Maestre, selected and sleuthed out 94 objects for the show after making visits to 74 collections around the world. Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 May 2023 Serious collectors sleuth online for hard-to-find species and travel around the country to auctions and plant shows. Hannah Holland, Washington Post, 2 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sleuth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for sleuthhound

First Known Use

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1900, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of sleuth was in 1872

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Dictionary Entries Near sleuth

Cite this Entry

“Sleuth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sleuth. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sleuth

1 of 2 noun

sleuth

2 of 2 verb
: to act as a detective
Etymology

Noun

a shortened form of sleuthhound "a dog that follows a track or trail by scent," from Middle English sleuth "a track or trail"; of Norse origin

Word Origin
In Middle English the word sleuth meant "the track or trail left by an animal or person." After the 15th century sleuth was seldom used except in such words as sleuth-dog and sleuthhound. These were terms for a dog trained to follow a track or trail. The sleuthhound became well known for its eager and thorough pursuit of an object. Later the word sleuthhound came to be used for a "detective." The modern word sleuth first came into use as a shortened form of sleuthhound.

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