radar

noun

1. (uncountable)In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.

   “They were able to find the enemy fleet using radar.”

   “Although operational environments profoundly differ, both kinds of autonomous vehicles, groundcraft and aircraft, will still rely on conceptually the same sorts of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — to perceive surroundings in real time.”

2. (broadly, uncountable)In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.
3. (countable)In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.

   “The Ministry of Defence funded the development of an entirely new radar and improved avionics.”

   “Evidence as to the audio monitor's reading is required to prove the [police] officer used the radar unit properly, and must be shown in order to secure a conviction for speeding when using radar.”

4. (countable)In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.

   “Each of these aircraft has been upgraded with a new radar and a more powerful engine.”

   “[T]he [depth] bombs must be tied to a grid of listening devices, radars and plotting instruments.”

5. (broadly, uncountable)Often preceded by a descriptive word: a natural (for example, in an animal such as a bat) or human-made detection method based on the analysis of reflected signals other than radio waves, as light waves or sound waves; (countable) an instance of this.
6. (countable, figuratively)A superior ability to detect something; an awareness, an intuition.

   “His sensitive radar for hidden alliances keeps him out of trouble.”

   “Stanley: Geez, how'd ya know? / Happy: I got radar or something.”

   “It [a goal] came inside 50 minutes and moments later [Edinson] Cavani should have had a 12th. [Paul] Pogba and [Luke] Shaw combined before the left-back's cross teed up the striker but his radar was awry.”

7. (alt-of, dated)Alternative letter-case form of radar.

   “Police traffic RADARs can provide a speed reading on a detected target, but they cannot measure the range to the target.”

   “Multiple RADARs can be mounted at different parts of the vehicle, front and rear, to get the complete view of objects all round.”

verb

1. (transitive)To use a radar apparatus (noun senses 1, 1.1, or 2) on (someone or something); to scan (someone or something) with, or as if with, radar.

   “This was no ordinary signal for help that Baby-John was radaring to outer space, but a call that had to be heeded, for he had just seen two hard guys go down for the final count— […]”

   “I don't think men are born on this planet. I think men are born on the planet Pluto and they have them molecularly disassembled and radar-ed to the earth.”

   “You want to cross-examine an officer about his competence with regards to radar and the radar he used to ticket you with. He radars you while he's sitting in his patrol vehicle under a bridge.”

   “[I]n Humans Need Not to Count the artists Varvara & Mar presented a robot clicker counting the number of visitors to the gallery […] The piece also evoked the mythification of artificial intelligence, attributing wisdom and consciousness to what is, in the case of the installation, instrumental intelligence (the robotic hand merely does two moves: radaring and clicking).”