police officer

noun

: a member of a police force

Examples of police officer in a Sentence

there were police officers directing traffic around the scene of the accident
Recent Examples on the Web After the man was booked, he was given a citation and released by West Allis police officers. Adrienne Davis, Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2024 On one level, the presence of African police officers may avoid some of the colonial overtones of past interventions, but some major problems remain: Few Kenyan officers are likely to speak French or Creole, for example, and Kenyan police have been accused of widespread abuses at home. Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024 During the press conference, Handfield said Donaldson did not know the man who came up to her during the argument with the adult was a police officer, NBC 6 reported. Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2024 A number of police officers were killed and thousands of prisoners escaped. Michele Kelemen, NPR, 6 Mar. 2024 The couple, who had been traveling by motorcycle from the state of West Bengal to neighboring Nepal, were found late Friday by police officers on patrol, said Pitambar Singh Kherwar, superintendent of Dumka district police in Jharkhand state. CNN, 5 Mar. 2024 Law enforcement officials released portions of bodycam footage of Tucson police officers fatally shooting a man with a gun on Feb. 2. Coleby Phillips, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024 The suspect dropped the handgun during the scuffle with the police officer, and a Target store employee kicked the gun away. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 5 Mar. 2024 But a legal challenge was filed soon after and in late January the High Court in Nairobi blocked any deployment of police officers. Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'police officer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of police officer was in 1797

Dictionary Entries Near police officer

Cite this Entry

“Police officer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/police%20officer. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

police officer

noun
: a member of a police force

More from Merriam-Webster on police officer

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