patrolmann.
/pəˈtrəʊlman/, /pəˈtrəʊlmən/, U.S. /pəˈtroʊlm(ə)n/ 1. Originally North American. A man, esp. an official, who goes on patrol or is on patrol duty.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > one who watches or keeps guard > one who patrols
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patrolman1737
1737 S.-Carolina Gaz. 12 Feb. 2/1 Patrol men shall provide themselves and keep in readiness for their Patrol Service one good Horse, one Gun or Pistol, [etc.].
1867 J. M. Crawford Mosby & his Men 330 [They] captured five patrolmen, from whom..they succeeded in obtaining the countersign.
1878 Harper's Mag. Feb. 331/2 Each patrol~man will carry a beach lantern.
1900 J. London Let. 31 Jan. (1966) 86 I was..a fish patrolman, a longshoreman, and a general sort of bay-faring adventurer.
1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate iii. 69 The hill road..bordered on disputed territory, and wanderers in the area were likely to be shot at by the patrolmen of either country.
2002 Kent & Sussex Courier (Nexis) 30 Aug. 4 A car park patrol man said he saw what state the bike was in but didn't report the incident.
2. spec.† b. U.S. A person who inspects power lines and telegraph lines to ensure their proper functioning. Obsolete. rare.
a. Chiefly North American. A patrolling police officer, esp. one attached to a particular beat or district.
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society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman > who patrols
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1851 N.-Y. Daily Times 7 Oct. 2/5 The call for a meeting of the members of the police department..has been repudiated and discountenanced by the majority of the men..who are of the opinion that the movement was set on foot by a few of their patrolmen.
1871 Biblical Repertory Jan. 34 The eye of the vigilant patrolman is a greater terror to the man who meditates crime, than a score of detectives, after he has committed it.
1927 Social Forces 5 611/2 The courts frequently fail to enforce the law with the result that the patrolman on the beat says ‘What's the use?’
1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard iii. 70 Very occasionally a patrolman meets crime in progress.
1994 C. Grant X-Files: Goblins xvii. 200 They said nothing as he turned to stare at the empty house, ribboned now in yellow, a patrolman on the steps to keep the curious away.
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1890 Electr. Rev. (U.S.) 1 Mar. 16/3 The chief lineman should..also have charge of the carbon setters and arc patrolmen.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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