noun
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a man, esp a policeman, who patrols a certain area
-
a man employed to patrol an area to help motorists in difficulty
Gender
See -man.
Etymology
Origin of patrolman
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.
Asked how he’d like to be remembered, Wambaugh summed it up with the no-nonsense crispness of a patrolman handing out a speeding ticket.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025
That video was played repeatedly for jurors, and Mr. Van Dyke became the first Chicago patrolman to be convicted of murder in almost 50 years.
From New York Times • Jan. 26, 2023
Her father was a highway patrolman, part of a long line of law enforcement in a family that’s instilled in Anderson a reverence for law enforcement.
From Seattle Times • May 11, 2022
He subsequently worked as a patrolman on day and night shifts, the department said.
From Fox News • Mar. 28, 2022
Dana Matherson’s reaction to the harmless toy convinced the patrolman that he couldn’t possibly be the Mother Paula’s vandal.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
