noun
-
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of patrolman
Explanation
A patrolman is another name for a police officer. Most patrolmen keep an eye on a certain area while walking or driving around it. The word patrolman is a bit old fashioned, since it's really only appropriate for a man — you can call a female officer a "patrolwoman," but it's simpler to just call them both police officers. Patrolman was first used in the 1840s to distinguish British constables who walked a beat, patrolling a specific neighborhood or region on foot. Patrol comes from the French patrouille, "a night watch."
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.
“Are you allowed to go into that?” she asked a patrolman.
From Slate • Jul. 7, 2026
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
It didn’t help when the patrolman asked for our identification and saw we were from California.
From New York Times • May 13, 2022
Although he told the patrolman that he spoke English, he didn’t speak it well; a Swahili interpreter had been requested for him in court hearings.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2022
Meanwhile, the first wave that the patrolman had seen continued heading directly for the elevated line.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
