patrol
Americanverb (used without object)
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patrols,
present (3rd person singular)
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patrolled,
past participle, past
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patrolling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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patrols,
present (3rd person singular)
-
patrolled,
past participle, past
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patrolling
present participle
noun
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patrols
plural
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a person or group of persons assigned to patrol an area, road, etc.
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an automobile, ship, plane, squadron, fleet, etc., assigned to patrol an area.
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Military. a detachment of two or more persons, often a squad or platoon, detailed for reconnaissance or combat.
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the act of patrolling.
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(in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) a subdivision of a troop, usually consisting of about eight members.
noun
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the action of going through or around a town, neighbourhood, etc, at regular intervals for purposes of security or observation
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a person or group that carries out such an action
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a military detachment with the mission of security, gathering information, or combat with enemy forces
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a division of a troop of Scouts or Guides
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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patrolsimple
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patrolssimple
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have patrolledperfect
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has patrolledperfect
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am patrollingprogressive
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are patrollingprogressive
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is patrollingprogressive
-
have been patrollingperfect progressive
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has been patrollingperfect progressive
Past
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patrolledsimple
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had patrolledperfect
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was patrollingprogressive
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were patrollingprogressive
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had been patrollingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of patrol
1655–65; < French patrouille (noun), patrouiller (v.) patrol, originally a pawing (noun), to paw (v.) in mud; derivative (with suffixal -ouille ) of patte paw; -r- unexplained
Explanation
When a person or a group monitors a specific area, that's a patrol. A police officer's night patrol might involve walking a beat on certain city streets. A patrol is the activity of watching a neighborhood or region, and also refers to the person or group doing the watching. And when you join such a group, you can say you patrol. Your neighborhood watch group might patrol the town in groups of three, driving up and down the streets keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. The French patrouille, "a night watch," comes from patrouiller, "go the rounds," and originally "tramp trough the mud."
Vocabulary lists containing patrol
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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:
His subsequent studies at Harvard Business School were interrupted by the outbreak of war in Korea, where he served for nine months as an Army patrol leader.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The DEC also released other calls between the agency and other departments, including the police and highway patrol.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
A man at the location was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car briefly before he was released.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Colin descended to find him and three other Inter-Con patrol people wandering around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
There, he jumped off his horse, leaped into the water, and swam toward a British patrol boat, yelling for help.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns and national vice president of UFW, said farmworkers began reporting the immigration enforcement patrols on Oct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
A much smaller police force continues to conduct patrols and respond to emergencies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Earlier this year, China’s coast guard stepped up patrols east of Taiwan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Fire patrols and operations are from about 10 am to 1 pm, "then working at home again until night", she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
One of the patrols I was on took us so high up on one of those hills that I was above the jungle.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
Police patrolled Doonbeg's main street this week as preparations intensified for what security sources have described as one of the most complex security operations ever mounted in Ireland.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Western Germany is also close - but not too close - to the more heavily patrolled beaches of northern France from where migrant boats launch.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
He brought with him perhaps 60,000 soldiers, along with numerous cannons, some of enormous size, to besiege the city; a newly constructed fleet patrolled the Bosporus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
I drove to my job at a middle school, where more legal observers patrolled outside.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The moment he had passed the place where the Patronus cat patrolled, he felt the change in temperature: It was warm and comfortable here.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Over time, it has become harder to locate the mines, compounding the challenge of patrolling the strip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Residents noticed increased security in recent weeks—more police patrolling the surrounding area and entrances to the base blocked by heavy equipment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Soldiers were also seen patrolling parts of the city.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
She said Mohammed was killed after running away from soldiers patrolling their village of Al-Rihiya, in the south of the occupied West Bank.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
We hung out near the bus stop, at the end of the curb, where we wouldn’t be noticed by school staff patrolling.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
