marshal
Americannoun
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marshals
plural
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a military officer of the highest rank, as in the French and some other armies.
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an administrative officer of a U.S. judicial district who performs duties similar to those of a sheriff.
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a court officer serving processes, attending court, giving personal service to the judges, etc.
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the chief of a police or fire department in some cities.
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a police officer in some communities.
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a higher officer of a royal household or court.
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an official charged with the arrangement or regulation of ceremonies, parades, etc..
the marshal of the St. Patrick's Day parade.
verb (used with object)
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marshals,
present (3rd person singular)
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marshaled,
past participle, past
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marshalled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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marshaling,
present participle
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marshalling
present participle (especially British)
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to arrange in proper order; set out in an orderly manner; arrange clearly.
to marshal facts; to marshal one's arguments.
- Antonyms:
- scatter
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to array, as for battle.
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to usher or lead ceremoniously.
Their host marshaled them into the room.
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Heraldry. to combine (two or more coats of arms) on a single escutcheon.
noun
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(in some armies and air forces) an officer of the highest rank
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(in England) an officer, usually a junior barrister, who accompanies a judge on circuit and performs miscellaneous secretarial duties
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a Federal court officer assigned to a judicial district whose functions are similar to those of a sheriff
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(in some states) the chief police or fire officer
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an officer who organizes or conducts ceremonies, parades, etc
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Also called: knight marshal. (formerly in England) an officer of the royal family or court, esp one in charge of protocol
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an obsolete word for ostler
verb
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to arrange in order
to marshal the facts
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to assemble and organize (troops, vehicles, etc) prior to onward movement
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to arrange (assets, mortgages, etc) in order of priority
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to guide or lead, esp in a ceremonious way
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to combine (two or more coats of arms) on one shield
Synonym Usage
See gather.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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marshalcynoun
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marshalernoun
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marshallernoun
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marshalshipnoun
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submarshalnoun
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undermarshalnoun
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remarshalverb (used with object)
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unmarshaledadjective
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unmarshalledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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marshalsimple
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marshalssimple
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have marshaledperfect
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have marshalledperfect
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has marshaledperfect
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has marshalledperfect
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am marshalingprogressive
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am marshallingprogressive
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are marshalingprogressive
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are marshallingprogressive
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is marshalingprogressive
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is marshallingprogressive
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have been marshalingperfect progressive
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have been marshallingperfect progressive
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has been marshalingperfect progressive
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has been marshallingperfect progressive
Past
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marshaledsimple
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marshalledsimple
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had marshaledperfect
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had marshalledperfect
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was marshalingprogressive
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was marshallingprogressive
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were marshalingprogressive
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were marshallingprogressive
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had been marshalingperfect progressive
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had been marshallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of marshal
1225–75; Middle English marshal, syncopated variant of mareschal < Old French < Germanic; compare Old High German marahscalh groom, equivalent to marah horse ( see mare 1) + scalh servant, cognate with Old English scealc
Explanation
A federal marshal knocks on your door. You panic: a marshal is a law officer. What do you do? You marshal your thoughts, that is, put them in order. Marshal derives from the Old French mareschal, for stable officer. The stable officer had charge of the horses, tending to them, putting them in order, readying them for action. If you are a marshal, you're an officer. If you marshal yourself, you get yourself ready, preparing for action.
Vocabulary lists containing marshal
Content Summary G.1: Principles of Geography
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The Odyssey
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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.
See Examples For:
Even though the community suffers from extensive poverty due in part to discrimination and the few resources refugees from a war-torn country are able to marshal, it has also produced a large number of entrepreneurs.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
For the last 19 years, student-loan lender Sallie Mae has commissioned a study on how families marshal all the economic forces at their disposal to pay for college.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
A new voice took over, identified as a marshal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Bonta’s office, along with state fire marshal, are also challenging that oversight in court, arguing the lines that run through Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties were incorrectly reclassified as intrastate pipelines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The Wicked Witch would liquefy when drenched with water. marshal.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
A handful of cabinet-level figures in past decades have received a security detail from the marshals, a division of the Justice Department.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Nearby hangs Rockwell’s famous 1964 oil painting showing marshals escorting 6-year-old Ruby Bridges to an integrated school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Leclerc was unhurt and the race was stopped while the marshals rebuilt the barriers at the famous final corner.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Ms. Eubanks marshals statistics to show the physical, emotional and financial toll on those who love them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The fire marshals and bomb squad pick through the burned-out section in the back that serves as an annex for the office, where we keep voting registration and contributor records.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
New York City’s charismatic mayor, Zohran Mamdani, won his election as a DSA member in 2025 and has since marshaled political support for fellow progressives running for other offices in the city he runs.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
In many places she chooses to undercut the image of the lone genius, sovereign over his book-lined study and carefully marshaled pens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Don’t question whether he marshaled a compelling reason to do so.
From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2026
Even the Treasury’s pivot toward heavier Treasury bill financing points to a world in which market structure, regulation, and innovation are quietly being marshaled to sustain an ever-larger debt load.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Somehow I marshaled the concentration to lift an arm and pull him close.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
In an opinion article written for the Financial Times last week, Bessent has cast the new measures as the “single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
They have created the infrastructure and marshalled the resources for an intergenerational struggle.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Coming in at number six, Gardner marshalled partnerships of 64 and 69 with Tahlia McGrath and Kim Garth, before being caught behind off Bree Illing.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2025
Letby's defence have, meanwhile, marshalled numerous arguments against the insulin theory.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
There on the wide flats beside the noisy river were marshalled in many companies well nigh five and fifty hundreds of Riders fully armed, and many hundreds of other men with spare horses lightly burdened.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Navy destroyers, which are highly maneuverable and carry powerful weapons, would likely be used to intercept oil tankers and escort them to a designated marshaling area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
Dubbed the Genesis Mission, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios called it “the largest marshaling of federal scientific resources since the Apollo program.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
This time, financiers are marshaling even larger sums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
“I’m just trying to understand what would motivate the officers ... to grab such a large number of people so quickly and without marshaling reasonable suspicion to detain,” said Judge Ronald M. Gould of Seattle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
"The Mallisters still hold Seagard and Walder Frey is marshaling his levies at the Twins."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Allans has been careful not to advocate a particular candidate or party – emphasising leadership rather than politicians, marshalling a new force, he says, outside traditional tribal voting blocs.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Smith is probably a better batter and Stokes might be more suited to marshalling the lower order.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
Moving the cruise berth will also free up space to expand the harbour's existing marshalling area for wind turbines.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2025
Accurate CFRs are critically important in an outbreak because marshalling a public health response depends on understanding the disease’s severity.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2024
He was a clear-headed little boy, and though he had led a secluded life, he had spent it almost entirely with grown-up people, and was accustomed to marshalling facts and weighing probabilities.
From A Knight on Wheels by Ian Hay
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