sleuth

1 of 2

noun

sleuth

2 of 2

verb

sleuthed; sleuthing; sleuths

intransitive verb

: to act as a detective : search for information

transitive verb

: to search for and discover

Did you know?

"They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Those canine tracks in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles set the great Sherlock Holmes sleuthing on the trail of a murderer. It was a case of art imitating etymology. When Middle English speakers first borrowed sleuth from Old Norse, the term referred to "the track of an animal or person." In Scotland, sleuthhound referred to a bloodhound used to hunt game or track down fugitives from justice. In 19th-century U.S. English, sleuthhound became an epithet for a detective and was soon shortened to sleuth. From there, it was only a short leap to turning sleuth into a verb describing what a sleuth does.

Examples of sleuth in a Sentence

Noun the popular TV sleuth lives a much more action-packed life than do his real-world counterparts
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
An online crypto sleuth has been using his powers for good to help recover funds stolen during scams. Sam Sabin, Axios, 25 Oct. 2024 The most mysterious song on the internet, which thousands of devoted sleuths have been trying to identify since 2007, finally has a name. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
In any case, last week our heroes, intrepid podcasting sleuths Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) all headed to the house of Charles’s sister, Doreen (Melissa McCarthy). Erik Kain, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024 Experts have suggested people’s desire to sleuth — which at times can spread false allegations and misinformation — is a symptom of the internet’s obsession with true crime and its desire to engage in gossip. Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sleuth 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for sleuthhound

First Known Use

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1900, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of sleuth was in 1872

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Dictionary Entries Near sleuth

Cite this Entry

“Sleuth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sleuth. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

sleuth

1 of 2 noun

sleuth

2 of 2 verb
: to act as a detective
Etymology

Noun

a shortened form of sleuthhound "a dog that follows a track or trail by scent," from Middle English sleuth "a track or trail"; of Norse origin

Word Origin
In Middle English the word sleuth meant "the track or trail left by an animal or person." After the 15th century sleuth was seldom used except in such words as sleuth-dog and sleuthhound. These were terms for a dog trained to follow a track or trail. The sleuthhound became well known for its eager and thorough pursuit of an object. Later the word sleuthhound came to be used for a "detective." The modern word sleuth first came into use as a shortened form of sleuthhound.

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