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What is "private detective"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
private detective
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Edward is a private detective hired by an antiques dealer who asked Edward to list all of the valuables in the house.
▪ He had never been inside a police station, had never met a private detective, had never spoken to a criminal.
▪ Kinsey Millhone, leading private detective of Santa Teresa, California.
▪ Later, an appointment was arranged for a private detective to call at Montpelier Walk.
▪ Perhaps there had once been a private detective in New York with that name.
▪ Robert Crais broke into mystery writing not by being a cop, a lawyer or a private detective.
▪ She wondered if she should hire a private detective to find out who the girl was.
Wiktionary
private detective

n. Any agent hired by a private party for the purpose of investigation or evidence gathering.

WordNet
private detective

n. someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information [syn: PI, private eye, private investigator, operative, shamus, sherlock]

Wikipedia
Private Detective (film)

Private Detective is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Earle Snell and Raymond L. Schrock. The film stars Jane Wyman, Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson, Maxie Rosenbloom, John Ridgely and Morgan Conway. The film was released by Warner Bros. on December 9, 1939.

Usage examples of "private detective".

That's more of a job for a private detective but they ain't used over much because they want to know all about your business and then you're worse off than you were before.

He called me a fat, scruffy private detective and said I didn't have any right to be sucking around a woman young enough to be my daughter.

Ivan because in his eyes I was nothing but a fat, scruffy private detective.

I cannot afford the services of a private detective, but I ask you, Mma, in the name of Jesus Christ, to help me in one small way.

You tell him that you have a contact, a lady private detective, who is very good at recovering stolen property.

I'm crude and I'm coarse and boorish, and I'm a fat scruffy fifty-three-year-old private detective.

Hollywood is my territory, and my private detective badge is no good outside the city limits.

She had to give the private detective a chance to find Guy, but she didn’.

He could have hired a private detective to watch the house, but he didn't want to involve a third party who might later make inconvenient connections.

Hatch, and asked you to bring me a private detective who would obey orders, and you brought Mr.