Meaning of detail in English

detail

noun

/ˈdiː.teɪl/ us

/dɪˈteɪl/ us

/ˈdiː.teɪl/

detail noun (INFORMATION)

B1 [ C ]

a single piece of information or fact about something:

She insisted on telling me every single detail of what they did to her in hospital.

We don't know the full/precise details of the story yet.

She refused to disclose/divulge any details about/of the plan.

details [ plural ]

information about someone or something:

A police officer took down the details of what happened.

[ U ]

the small features of something that you only notice when you look carefully:

I was just admiring the detail in the doll's house - even the tins of food have labels on them.

It's his eye for (= ability to notice) detail that distinguishes him as a painter.

in detail

including or considering all the information about something or every part of something:

We haven't discussed the matter in detail yet.

go into detail

to tell or include all the facts about something:

I won't go into detail over the phone, but I've been having a few health problems recently.

[ C ]

a part of something that does not seem important:

Tony says, he's going to get the car, and finding the money to pay for it is just a minor detail.

More examples

The model of the village is accurate down to the last detail.
He forgot to tell you one important detail - he's married.
It's only a detail, but could you just add the office phone number at the top of the page?
Her paintings are almost photographic in their detail and accuracy.
There is one small detail you've got wrong in your report.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Information and messages

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Conditions and characteristics

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detail noun (GROUP)

[ C, + sing/pl verb ]

a group of people who have been given a particular task

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Parts of armies & groups of servicemen

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

The police generally

detail

verb

/ˈdiː.teɪl/ us

/dɪˈteɪl/ us

/ˈdiː.teɪl/

detail verb (GIVE INFORMATION)

[ T ] uk

/ˈdiː.teɪl/ us

/dɪˈteɪl/ us

/ˈdiː.teɪl/

to describe something completely, giving all the facts:

[ + question word ] Can you produce a report detailing what we've spent on the project so far?

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Elaborating, specifying and simplifying

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detail verb (ORDER)

[ T + to infinitive, often passive ] uk

/ˈdiː.teɪl/ us

/dɪˈteɪl/ us

/ˈdiː.teɪl/

to order someone, often a small group of soldiers or workers, to perform a particular task:

Four soldiers were detailed to check the road for troops.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Giving orders & commands

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detail verb (CLEAN CAR)

[ T ] US uk

/ˈdiː.teɪl/ us/ˈdiː.teɪl/

to clean the inside and outside of a vehicle very carefully:

You can skip the car wash; Rogers has all the equipment to wash and detail your car in your own driveway.

a car detailing company

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Cleaning & tidying places & things

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(Definition of detail from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

detail | American Dictionary

detail

noun

/dɪˈteɪl, ˈdi·teɪl/

detail noun (INFORMATION)

[ C/U ]

a particular fact or item of information, often noticed only after giving something your close attention, or such facts or items considered as a group:

[ C ] We have a report of a serious accident on Route 23, but so far no details.

[ U ] She showed a businesslike attention to detail.

[ U ] I can’t go into much detail, but I’ve been having some health problems recently.

We know roughly what he wants to do, but we haven’t discussed his plans in detail (= considering all the particular facts).

detail noun (GROUP)

[ C ]

a small group, esp. of soldiers or police, ordered to perform a particular duty:

A detail of five police officers accompanied the diplomat to his hotel.

detailed

adjective us

/dɪˈteɪld, ˈdi·teɪld/

a detailed account/description

detail

verb [ T ]

/dɪˈteɪl, ˈdi·teɪl/

detail verb [T] (GIVE INFORMATION)

to give exact and complete information about something:

The committee members issued a brief statement detailing their plans.

(Definition of detail from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of detail

detail

In order to protect the confidentiality of the e-mail forum, no identifying details can be given here.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

To flesh this out, we need to give further details of our modal language.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I will argue # below that such details are best expressed in terms of the ability of individual syllabic positions to license particular units of melody.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The details of the sonority scale do not affect the general thrust of the proposal.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

No two researchers are likely to agree in all details of any analysis.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In light of the evidence detailed above, what can be done to improve carers' access to health care?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We do not consider the details of the reconnection process in the diffusion region.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Further details are available from the first author.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The proof of the proposition above is standard, so we do not give details here.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The full details of this proof are highly formal and voluminous, and hence beyond the scope of this paper.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I don't know the details about whom he got in touch with to make it happen, but it was his idea.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In doing so, the author shows how the details of language use feed into larger frameworks of meaning and legal practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this case, the clear change between mirror and phase reflection could be detected in all details.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We apply this method to our basic model and give the details of the corresponding computations in the next section.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Section 2 introduces the measure of disequilibrium, where its structure and practical concerns are discussed in details.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of detail

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with detail

detail

These are words often used in combination with detail.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

accurate detail

Though the story is fictional, recent scholarship has uncovered a greater measure of historically accurate detail in its setting than had previously been realized.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

additional detail

Extended response that contains additional detail that is irrelevant, repetitive or bizarre.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

administrative detail

Such policies cannot just be legislated; they must be worked out in administrative detail.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with detail