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Synonyms

patrol car

American  

noun

  1. squad car.

patrol car British  

noun

  1. a police car with a radio telephone used for patrolling streets and motorways See also panda car

"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

Etymology

Origin of patrol car

First recorded in 1930–35

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.

Angelo Rodriguez, 24, allegedly slammed his patrol car into a Nissan Versa near the Rosecrans Avenue exit of the 605 Freeway South on July 20th, disabling the car, authorities have previously said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

Former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez, one of the first to be released, was driven home in a patrol car.

From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026

Higgs’s dashcam showed a few drops of rain hitting the windshield of his patrol car about an hour after police arrived.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

After several failed attempts to deflate it, the officers finally managed to squash it into the back of a patrol car.

From Salon • Oct. 12, 2025

His partner was waiting on the sidewalk, opposite their patrol car, double-parked with its radio going.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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.