Meaning & use
inspector
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Meanings
nouncountable
An official whose job is to examine places, equipment, or records to check that rules and standards are being followed.
Grammar: Countable: one inspector, two inspectors. Often followed by of or for: an inspector of schools.
Patterns
- a health/safety/tax inspector
- an inspector of something
- an inspector for a company
A health inspector visited the restaurant and found the kitchen was clean.
The factory was closed after a safety inspector reported serious problems.
She works as a tax inspector for the government.
nouncountableBritish
A police officer of middle rank, above a sergeant and below a chief inspector.
Grammar: Countable and used as a title before a name: Inspector Jones. Common in British police forces.
Patterns
- Inspector + name
- a police inspector
- Detective Inspector
Inspector Grant asked the witnesses to describe the man they had seen.
She was promoted to inspector after ten years in the force.
Detective Inspector Walsh led the investigation into the robbery.
Word forms
| plural | inspectors |
|---|
Common combinations
- health inspector
- The health inspector checked the temperature of the fridges.
- safety inspector
- A safety inspector shut down the building site.
- tax inspector
- The tax inspector asked to see the company's accounts.
- police inspector
- A police inspector arrived at the scene within minutes.
- inspector of schools
- He spent five years as an inspector of schools in the north.
Synonyms and how they differ
- examiner
- Examiner is used mainly for someone who tests students or checks documents, not for officials who visit workplaces.
- auditor
- Auditor is a specialist word for someone who officially checks financial records.
- supervisor
- Supervisor is a more general word for someone who watches over workers; an inspector has official authority to check standards.
Word family
- inspect verb
- To look at something closely and carefully to check it.
- inspection noun
- An official visit or careful examination.
- inspectorate noun
- A group of inspectors or the organization they belong to.
Commonly confused: inspector or spectator?
inspector vs spectator
A spectator watches a game or show; an inspector checks that rules are followed.
Practice
The restaurant was closed after a ______ found mice in the kitchen.
Choose one answer.
'Inspector' is the person who checks standards, so it fits the sentence. 'Inspection' is the act, not the person, and 'spectator' means someone watching an event.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inspector”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.