Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A detective.
- intransitive verb To track or follow.
- intransitive verb To act as a detective.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A Middle English form of
sloth . - noun A newspaper name for a detective.
- noun A track or trail of man or beast; scent.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Scot. The track of man or beast as followed by the scent.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete An animal’s
trail ortrack . - noun archaic A
sleuth-hound ; abloodhound . - noun A
detective . - verb intransitive, transitive To
act as a detective; to try todiscover whocommitted acrime . - noun obsolete, uncountable
Slowness ;laziness ,sloth . - noun rare A collective term for a group of
bears .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a detective who follows a trail
- verb watch, observe, or inquire secretly
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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To find the healthiest choices, you’ll need to be a bit of a label sleuth, reading the fine print on ingredient lists and Nutrition Facts panels.
Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy M.D. Walter C. Willett 2005
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That is another reason it’s so important to become a label sleuth.
Fat is Not Your Fate Susan Mitchell Ph.D. 2005
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To find the healthiest choices, you’ll need to be a bit of a label sleuth, reading the fine print on ingredient lists and Nutrition Facts panels.
Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy M.D. Walter C. Willett 2005
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That is another reason it’s so important to become a label sleuth.
Fat is Not Your Fate Susan Mitchell Ph.D. 2005
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This fabulous series stars a kind hearted animal lover who though an amateur sleuth is strong willed; Kendra is opinionated and unforgiving especially at those who harm animals as she is an animal rights advocate.
Double Dog Dare-Linda O. Johnston « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2008
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Ritchie's version of the British super sleuth is actually based off of an upcoming comic book that producer Lionel Wigram wrote to sell a new take on the classic character.
Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is Robert Downey Jr. « FirstShowing.net 2008
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My sleuth is thinner, blonder, and younger than I am, and I like it that way.
Desperately Seeking | The Stiletto Gang The Stiletto Gang 2008
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The word sleuth Barry Popik seems to have found the earliest known publisheduse of the term in its figurative sense.
The Grammarphobia Blog » Blog Archive » The gold diggers of Broadway 2010
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The latest Devilin regional amateur sleuth is not an easy read as the stranger is so abnormal with his rant, his gun, and his abrupt nap he is frightening yet so real.
The Drifter’s Wheel-Phillip DePoy « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2008
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In my second novel, A FAREWELL TO LEGS, Aaron Tucker, the freelance reporter and reluctant sleuth, is in Washington, DC to investigate a crime.
Character Issues 2006
skipvia commented on the word sleuth
A group of bears
November 16, 2007
yarb commented on the word sleuth
Someone I work with uses this as a verb, indiscriminately, to refer to any sort of investigation or research activity, covert or overt, and for some reason this irks me.
October 22, 2008
madmouth commented on the word sleuth
"Jane and I have been doing a bit of sleuthing" was a line from the Marple TV program...though of course they were investigating a real murder. "I'm sleuthing for my keys", say, is irksome indeed.
if you're not a filthy yod-dropper, this word represents a unique s-initial onset cluster in English, one that isn't str/l-, skr/l- or spr/l-
August 3, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word sleuth
Quite likely the ugliest goddamn word ever. I hate it even more than I hate "moist."
February 29, 2016