police
To enforce the law and keep order amongTo enforce the law and keep order among (a group).
Recorded UK: Association Shtooka, Judith Franck, CC BY 3.0 US, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To enforce the law and keep order among (a group).
Extra security was hired to police the crowd at the big game.
(ambitransitive, slang)To clean up an area.
(figuratively, transitive)To enforce norms or standards upon.
to police a person's identity
- maintain the security of by carrying out a patrol
Examples
4446 sentencesThe police caught up with him.
Поліція наздогнала його. — ChickenKiev
The police are looking into it.
Поліція проводить розслідування. — aandrusiak
ruПолиция расследует это. — corvard
He was caught by the police.
Його схопила поліція. — deniko
ruЕго схватила полиция. — odexed
I just spoke with the police.
Я щойно говорив із поліцією. — deniko
ruЯ только что разговаривал с полицией. — psykami
Why didn't you call the police?
Чому ти не зателефонував до поліції? — deniko
ruПочему ты не вызвал полицию? — marafon
deWarum hast du nicht die Polizei gerufen? — dinkel_girl
Origin
From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek ποFrom Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy, polis (“police”), and polity.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
polices, policing, policed, policedSynonyms
1 synonyms- maintain the security of by carrying out a patrol:patrol
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
Collocations
12 patterns- call the police
- police officer
- the police officer
- the police are
- by the police
- to the police
- a police officer
- told the police
- the police found
- the police have
- the police suspect
- the police arrested
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.