sleuth

sleuth  (slth)

n.

1. A detective.

2. See sleuthhound.

v. sleuthed, sleuth·ing, sleuths

v.tr.

To track or follow.

v.intr.

To act as a detective.

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[Short for sleuthhound.]

Word History: Tracking down the history of the word sleuth requires a bit of etymological sleuthing. The immediate ancestor of our word is the compound sleuthhound, "a dog, such as a bloodhound, used for tracking or pursuing." This term took on a figurative sense, "tracker, pursuer," which is closely related to the sense "detective." From sleuthhound came the shortened form sleuth, recorded in the sense "detective" as early as 1872. The first part of the term sleuthhound means "track, path, trail," and is first recorded in a Middle English work written probably around 1200. The Middle English word, which had the form sloth, with eu representing the Scots development of the Middle English (), was a borrowing of the Old Norse word sldh, "a track or trail."

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sleuth [rhymes with tooth]

Noun

Informal a detective [Old Norse slōth a trail]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	sleuth - a detective who follows a trail       sleuthhound detective - an investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public
Verb	1.	sleuth - watch, observe, or inquire secretly snoop, spy, stag monitor, supervise - keep tabs on; keep an eye on; keep under surveillance; "we are monitoring the air quality"; "the police monitor the suspect's moves"

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sleuth

noun (Informal) detective, private eye (informal) (private) investigator, tail (informal) dick (slang), chiefly U.S. gumshoe U.S. (slang) sleuthhound (informal)

Translations

sleuth [sluːθ] n (col) → detective m/f

sleuth [sluːθ] n (inf) → détective (privé)

sleuth [sluːθ] n → Detektiv m

sleuth [sluːθ] n (col) → segugio