gendarme

noun

gen·darme ˈzhän-ˌdärm

also ˈjän-

: a member of a body of soldiers especially in France serving as an armed police force for the maintenance of public order

: police officer

Example Sentences

the senator reiterated his conviction that it is not the role of the United States to be a kind of global gendarme

Recent Examples on the Web There were no gendarmes on Trump’s tail, no threat of violence or self-harm, no real suspense. —

Paul Farhi, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2023 Zipping around the City of Light on one of them, wind in the hair, or romantically but naughtily e-scooting à deux on one machine when the gendarmes aren’t looking could soon be over if Parisians vote Sunday to do away with the 15,000 opinion-dividing micro-vehicles. —

Joe Leicester, oregonlive, 2 Apr. 2023 Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday that some 441 police and gendarmes were injured as violence marred some marches. —

Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2023 One gendarme, waving a pistol, threatened to search the refugees’ belongings. —

Kenneth Miller, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2013 Spain expelled another deserter, Mohamed Abdellah, a dissident gendarme, to Algeria last August. —

Elaine Ganley, ajc, 28 May 2022 Each gendarme carried a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder. —

Dyan Machan, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2022 The attacks on Thursday targeted a military camp about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Solle town in Loroum province and a special response unit for the gendarme in the Sanmatenga province, the army said in a statement. —

Sam Mednick, ajc, 6 May 2022 Francois V had indeed worked as a gendarme and a police officer, and as a town councilor in the town of Prades-le-Lez in southern France. —

NBC News, 1 Oct. 2021 See More

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