constablecon‧sta‧ble /ˈkʌnstəbəl $ ˈkɑːn-/ noun [countable] 
Word Origin
Word OriginWORD ORIGINconstable
ExamplesOrigin:
1800-1900 constable ‘high-ranking royal official, local officer of the law’ (12-21 centuries), from Old French conestable, from Late Latin comes stabuli ‘officer of the stable’EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Thesaurus- Before shaving, he rang his office and spoke to the woman police constable who acted as his secretary.
- But all Mrs Ullman found was the intimidating bulk of three police constables.
- I've already given their names to the constable in the library.
- I recognised the uniform of a police constable.
- Seven other County Durham officers and a special constable have also been commended by the chief constable.
- The constables were known to the certificate-holder personally.
- They stopped at the modern bungalow that was the home and office of the local police constable.
- Yet, according to the chief constable, in the same period calls for service have increased by 85 percent.
THESAURUSpeople in the police► police officer
Collocations (also officer) a member of the police. In British English, police officer is used especially in more formal contexts, for example in news reports. In everyday English, British people still usually say policeman or policewoman: · a senior police officer· He was sentenced to life in prison for killing a police officer.· He is the officer in charge of the case.· Officer Fayard (=in the US ‘Officer’ is used in the title of police officers)
► policeman a man who is a member of the police: · an off-duty policeman· He’s a former policeman.
► policewoman a woman who is a member of the police: · The girl, accompanied by a policewoman and two social workers, was seen in private by Sheriff George Crozier.
► PC/WPC abbreviation used in the job titles of British police officers. PC means ‘Police Constable’ and WPC means ‘Woman Police Constable’: · PC Keith Fletcher· WPC Susan Larkin
► detective a police officer whose job is to discover who is responsible for crimes: · Detectives are investigating the death of a baby boy.· Detective Inspector John Hartwell
► plain-clothes adjective a plain-clothes police officer wears ordinary clothes instead of a uniform: · Two plain-clothes police officers, acting as hotel security men, kept watch on him.
► constable a British police officer of the lowest rank: · a police constable· Constable Robin Cameron
► chief constable a senior police officer who is in charge of the police in a particular area in Britain: · the chief constable of North Yorkshire police
► cop informal a police officer: · You’d better call the cops.
► trooper a US police officer in a state police force: · a New Jersey state trooper
WORD SETS► Policeagent, nounbaton, nounbeat, nounbobby, nounbody armour, nounbody search, nounbook, verbchief constable, nounchief inspector, nounchief superintendent, nounCID, the, commander, nouncommissioner, nouncomposite, nounconstable, nounconstabulary, nouncop, nouncopper, nouncop shop, nouncruiser, noundetective, noundragnet, nounFBI, the, flying squad, nounFraud Squad, nounfrisk, verbgendarme, nounguard dog, nounhighway patrol, nounhomicide, nouninformant, nouninspector, nounInterpol, nouninvestigation, nounlaw enforcement agent, nounlawman, nounmanor, nounMetropolitan Police, the, MI5, nounmissing person, nounMountie, nounmugshot, nounnab, verbnail, verbnarc, nounnark, nounnick, verbnightstick, nounofficer, nounoperation, nounpaddy wagon, nounPanda car, nounpatrol, nounpatrol car, nounpatrolman, nounpig, nounplain-clothes, adjectiveplastic bullet, nounpolice constable, nounpolice department, nounpolice dog, nounpolice force, nounpoliceman, nounpolice officer, nounpolice station, nounpolicewoman, nounprecinct, nounquell, verbquestion, verbradar trap, nounraid, nounraid, verbrank, nounrap sheet, nounriot police, nounroadblock, nounScotland Yard, search warrant, nounsheriff, nounshield, nounsnout, nounspecial agent, nounSpecial Branch, nounspecial constable, nounsquad, nounsquad car, nounstate trooper, nounstation house, nounstore detective, nounsupergrass, nounsuperintendent, nountraffic cop, nountrooper, nountruncheon, nounwarrant, nounwater cannon, nounWPC, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE► assistant
1a British police officer of the lowest rank2in the US, someone who has some of the powers of a police officer and can send legal documents that order someone to do something· For Don Dovaston, assistant chief constable of Derbyshire police, a series of schoolgirl murders made that mark run deeper.· He was one of three applicants for the post of assistant chief constable.· His appointment comes with next month's retirement of assistant chief constable Fred Smith.· Fuss Mr Wilmot's six assistant chief constables are likely to join the boycott in November.
► chief· Merseyside's chief constable yesterday defended the handling of the arrest of a 12-year-old in the hunt for James's killers.· Yet, according to the chief constable, in the same period calls for service have increased by 85 percent.· The minister may also call for the retirement of a chief constable.· It is virtually impossible for a Police Authority to obtain a report from a chief constable contrary to his wishes.· The implementation of section 39 is an operational matter for the chief constable.· The chief constable is responsible for other appointments and promotions.· The county's chief constable, who heads a national committee on crime, says he hasn't the resources to cope.· His appointment comes with next month's retirement of assistant chief constable Fred Smith.
► special· Too old to fight, he had served as a special constable during the war.· Several people volunteered for being special constables but Tom remained silent.· The home secretary, Kenneth Baker, launched a £4.5m campaign to recruit thousands more special constables.· Seven other County Durham officers and a special constable have also been commended by the chief constable.· Mr. Lloyd Our objective is that the number of special constables should equal about 20 percent. of the regular police force.· The campaigns that we have been conducting are moving in that direction because special constables have a particularly valuable part to play.· Every one else was virtually a special constable. ... The women were better.· He became a special constable, a member of the local emergency committee.
► uniformed· They loomed up, two uniformed constables.· There was a uniformed constable by the bed all the time, but David Evans was hanging about as an unofficial extra.· P.C. Clifford and the other uniformed constable lent a hand in getting the stretcher with its heavy burden up the steps.
► young· A pleasant spoken young constable arrived at Riverview with a warrant and asked if he might look over the boat.· The young constable and the landlord each grabbed a combatant and frogmarched them into the village street.· Who knows why he attacked the young constable?· Meryl followed the young detective constable to the library door with a sick feeling in her stomach.· The young constable had come round the side of the inn, ready to support Hewett.· A young constable coughed with embarrassment.· On more than one occasion I caught senior management using our symbolic disorder to dress down young constables.
NOUN► detective· The victim, a detective constable, tried to arrest the accused.· The detective constable who was supposed to be guarding him was out of the ward at the time chatting up some nurses.· She harried the detective constable who was checking Christine Mills' alibis.· Meryl followed the young detective constable to the library door with a sick feeling in her stomach.· The door of the interview room swung open and a detective constable swaggered in.· Uniformed men and Wycliffe's detective constables were questioning the very few people who actually lived in the street.· A detective constable was working away in a corner.· The three of them, with four detective constables, would set the ball rolling.