as in detector
a device that detects some physical quantity and responds usually with a transmitted signal
the cat accidentally triggered the motion sensor, which set off the alarm
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Recent Examples of sensor
The sensors detect any damage, triggering the heating mechanism.
—
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 4 Mar. 2026
Researchers at Stanford recently showed that 130 conditions could be accurately predicted from a single night of sleep sensor data.
—William Warr, Time, 4 Mar. 2026
The internet of things, a term Ashton coined in the late 1990s to describe how everyday devices embedded with sensors would connect the real world with its virtual counterpart, has given us useful and fairly uncontroversial applications — think satnav, earthquake alarms, and package tracking.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 3 Mar. 2026
The system evolves on its own as the sensors extract more information.
—Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sensor
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 4 Mar. 2026
Researchers at Stanford recently showed that 130 conditions could be accurately predicted from a single night of sleep sensor data.
—William Warr, Time, 4 Mar. 2026
The internet of things, a term Ashton coined in the late 1990s to describe how everyday devices embedded with sensors would connect the real world with its virtual counterpart, has given us useful and fairly uncontroversial applications — think satnav, earthquake alarms, and package tracking.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 3 Mar. 2026
The system evolves on its own as the sensors extract more information.
—Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sensor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sensor
detector
Noun
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There, biological imaging specialist Thomas van de Kamp oversaw the operation, as intense X-ray beams swept through each specimen and high-speed detectors recorded thousands of projection images from multiple angles.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
5 Mar. 2026
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To achieve this, the team is designing a compact electronic device paired with a molecular-scale detector called a nanopore sensor.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sensor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sensor. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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