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A nickname for a British policeman is a bobby, after Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel, who founded Britain’s Metropolitan Police Force in 1829, provoking complaints about the infringement of civil liberties. The first patrolmen wore a blue uniform (to distinguish them from the military who wore red) with a top hat. They also carried a 20-in (51-cm) truncheon (club) for protection, and a rattle for attracting attention—rattles were replaced with whistles in 1886, after experiments showed that whistles could be heard from a much greater distance. The first two bobbies—William Atkinson and William Alcock, holders of Warrants Number one and two— were fired on the first and second day of the force’s existence for being drunk.
Synonyms of bobby
Examples of bobby in a Sentence
Literary Hub, 16 Jan. 2026
His mother and her sisters, wearing sunglasses and bobby soxer skirts and sweaters.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2024
There will soon be a new bobby on the beat in London: artificial intelligence.
—Will Knight, Wired, 25 Jan. 2020
The great theme of the recent Tory conference was providing reassurance—putting more bobbies on the beat, building more hospitals, raising the minimum wage and otherwise spraying money all over the place.
—The Economist, 12 Oct. 2019
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Cite this Entry
“Bobby.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bobby. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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named for Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel 1788–1850 English politician who first organized the London police force
