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View synonyms for patrol

patrol

[ puh-trohl ]

verb (used without object)

, pa·trolled, pa·trol·ling.
  1. (of a police officer, soldier, etc.) to pass along a road, beat, etc., or around or through a specified area in order to maintain order and security.


verb (used with object)

, pa·trolled, pa·trol·ling.
  1. to maintain the order and security of (a road, beat, area, etc.) by passing along or through it.

noun

  1. a person or group of persons assigned to patrol an area, road, etc.
  2. an automobile, ship, plane, squadron, fleet, etc., assigned to patrol an area.
  3. Military. a detachment of two or more persons, often a squad or platoon, detailed for reconnaissance or combat.
  4. the act of patrolling.
  5. (in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) a subdivision of a troop, usually consisting of about eight members.

patrol

/ pəˈtrəʊl /

noun

  1. the action of going through or around a town, neighbourhood, etc, at regular intervals for purposes of security or observation
  2. a person or group that carries out such an action
  3. a military detachment with the mission of security, gathering information, or combat with enemy forces
  4. a division of a troop of Scouts or Guides
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. to engage in a patrol of (a place)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • paˈtroller, noun
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Other Words From

  • pa·troller noun
  • repa·trol verb (used with object) repatrolled repatrolling
  • unpa·trolled adjective
  • well-pa·trolled adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of patrol1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of patrol1

C17: from French patrouiller, from patouiller to flounder in mud, from patte paw
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Example Sentences

Brooks recounts with vivid detail her experiences in the police academy and as an officer on patrol.

High-paying “extra duty” jobs — like sitting in a patrol car monitoring traffic at a road construction site — are also protected by the contracts.

Anderson says the 9-year-old started screaming, “I want my dad,” and resisted the officers’ efforts to get her into the patrol car.

Two days later, Emery ordered the agency to study the issue of chokeholds in a bid to understand why they were the focus of so many complaints against police officers despite the patrol guide’s ban.

To date, none of the patrol unions have ever gone on strike.

Then they came up against a police patrol on mountain bicycles, which again led to more shooting, without injuries.

“They just walk around, they ride in their patrol cars, and they just pass by,” he said.

With the midterm elections safely in the rearview mirror, Obama is on legacy patrol.

Brinsley stepped up to the passenger side of the patrol car, raised a silver Taurus semi-automatic pistol and began firing.

Hundreds of cops saluting as the bodies were rolled out with a full escort by highway patrol.

"Hon'lable p'lice patrol come 'long plenty soon," murmured Sin Sin Wa.

They mewed like cats at the approach of the patrol, and crowed like cocks when a likely victim approached.

He was not of the Allied Patrol nor of any branch of the police force that encircled the world in its operations.

Nor did the voluble and sulphurous orders to halt that a patrol-ship flashed north.

The patrol-ship was on station; she was lost far astern before she could gather speed for pursuit.

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Patrocluspatrol car