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Synonyms

tec

American  
[tek] / tɛk /

noun

Slang.

  1. detective.

TEC 1 British  
/ tɛk /

acronym

  1. Training and Enterprise Council See Training Agency

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
tec 2 British  
/ tɛk /

noun

  1. informal short for detective

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tec

First recorded in 1875–80; by shortening

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Starsky & Hutch's tongues are just one part of Jack Cloth's success as a telly tec.

From The Guardian • Aug. 24, 2012

Warren Beatty's take on the tec is funny but not facetious, and Madonna sizzles as a vamp chanteuse.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many residents say it is rooted in the Zapo- tec and Mixtec indigenous cultures.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Make pessaries of figs and the bruised leaves of dog's mercury, rolled up in lint, and if a stronger one is required, make one of myrrh, opopanax, ammoniac, galbanum, sagepanum, mithridate, agaric, coloquintida, tec.

From The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy by Aristotle

The coppers is up there now, and the tec, and the manager, and they think their gent is about the place somewhere still.

From The Amateur Cracksman by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.