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.
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.
The patrolmen are equipped with rifles and handguns, to be used as a last resort against angry polar bears and musk ox.
From Barron's
County Sheriff’s Department have done the heavy lifting – keeping control with helicopters, hundreds of patrolmen on foot and hundreds of patrol cars.
From Salon
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
The ad then shows the patrolman approaching the vehicle: “Miss, I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle,” he says, tapping the kit on the driver’s side door, “take a pregnancy test.”
From New York Times
Two California Highway patrolmen stood about 20 feet away, talking to each other as traffic crawled along.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
