sleuth (sl th)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. [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." |
sleuth [sluːθ]
n
1. an informal word for detective
2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Breeds) short for sleuthhound [1]
vb
(tr) to track or follow
[short for sleuthhound, from C12 sleuth trail, from Old Norse sloth; see slot2]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  sleuth - a detective who follows a trail detective - an investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public |
| Verb | 1. | sleuth - watch, observe, or inquire secretly |
sleuth
noun (Informal) detective, private eye (informal), (private) investigator, tail (informal), dick (slang, chiefly U.S.), gumshoe (U.S. slang), sleuthhound (informal) a tenacious sleuth
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