1
a
: the action of traversing a district or beat or of going the rounds along a chain of guards for observation or the maintenance of security
b
: the person performing such an action
c
: a unit of persons or vehicles employed for reconnaissance, security, or combat
2
: a subdivision of a Boy Scout troop or Girl Scout troop
patrolled; patrolling
: to carry out a patrol
: to carry out a patrol of
patroller
noun
Examples of patrol in a Sentence
Noun
The guard makes a patrol of the building every hour.
Soldiers are on patrol along the border.
Army patrols combed the area.
Verb
The squad had orders to patrol the area.
The border is patrolled by the army.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 4 Sep. 2025
Officers from the patrol’s East Sacramento office told the tale of the Wednesday morning incident posted to Facebook.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 4 Sep. 2025
The Healy has been patrolling the Arctic alongside the national security cutter USCGC Waesche since Saturday.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patrol
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Federal prosecutors have charged Omari Juan Beidleman with assaulting two members of the Mississippi National Guard during a patrol at the Capitol South Metro station.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 4 Sep. 2025
Officers from the patrol’s East Sacramento office told the tale of the Wednesday morning incident posted to Facebook.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
Trump maintains the ability to have National Guard troops and federal agencies continue to patrol city streets beyond his federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department.
—Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 4 Sep. 2025
The Healy has been patrolling the Arctic alongside the national security cutter USCGC Waesche since Saturday.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patrol
Cite this Entry
“Patrol.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patrol. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
patrol
1 of 2 noun
pa·trol
pə-ˈtrōl 
1
a
: the action of going the rounds of an area for observation or guard
b
: the person or group doing the patrolling
2
: a part of a Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop
patrol
2 of 2 verb
patrolled; patrolling
: to carry out a patrol or a patrol of
patroller
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share