sleuth n : a detective who follows a trail [syn: sleuthhound] v : watch, observe, or inquire secretly [syn: spy, stag, snoop]

English

Pronunciation

• italbrac RP /sluːθ/, /slu:T/
• Rhymes with: -uːθ

Etymology 1

From slóð (Norwegian slo).

Noun

1. An animal's trail or track.
2. A sleuth-hound; a bloodhound.
3. A detective.
   • 1908, Edith Van Dyne (Frank L. Baum), Aunt Jane’s Nieces at Millville

     Do ye want me to become a sleuth, or engage detectives to track the objects of your erroneous philanthropy?

Synonyms

• detective

Translations

Verb

1. To act as a detective; to try to discover who committed a crime.
   • 1922, Agatha Christie, The Secret Adversary

     We must discover where he lives, what he does — sleuth him, in fact!

Synonyms

• shadow

Translations

Etymology 2

slǣwþ, corresponding to slow + -th.

Noun

1. In the context of "obsolete|uncountable": Slowness; laziness, sloth.
2. A collective term for a group of bears.
   • 2007, Elinor De Wire, The Lightkeepers' Menagerie: Stories of Animals at Lighthouses - Page 200

     From the darkness came the howls of routs of wolves and bands of coyotes, the rumbling growls of a sleuth of bears or the bugles of a gang of elk.

   • 1995, Bobbie Ann Mason, The Girl Sleuth - Page 13

     If these dainty adventurers weren't being chased by a sleuth of bears or bogeys, they were being captured by Gypsies or thieves.

   • 1961, Noel Perrin, A Passport Secretly Green - Page 89''

     As quietly as if I were practicing to join a sleuth of bears, I crept out the door and went on home, eventually winding up in the garage...

Synonyms

• italbrac sloth: idleness, inertia, laziness, lethargy, sloth, slothfulness

  sloth

See also

Sleuth may mean:

• The Sleuth (1925 film)
• Sleuth (1972 film)
• Sleuth (2007 film)
• Sleuth (play)
• Sleuth (computer game)
• Sleuth (Internet RPG)
• Sleuth, a 24-hour entertainment cable channel dedicated to the crime, mystery and suspense genre, from NBC Universal.
• The Sleuth, a Sherlock Holmes parody featured in Disney comics.
• Detective
• Bloodhound
• A group of bears

See also

• The Sleuth Kit

Bow Street runner, FBI, FBI agent, Federal, G-man, Secret Service, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, T-man, detective, dick, eye, fed, gumshoe, hawkshaw, hotel detective, house detective, house dick, inquiry agent, investigator, narc, operative, plainclothesman, police detective, private detective, private eye, private investigator, revenuer, shamus, snoop, store detective, tec, treasury agent