policeman

noun

po·​lice·​man pə-ˈlēs-mən 

1

: a member of a police force

2

: one held to resemble a policeman

making the United States the policeman for the whole wide world

—R. B. Long

Synonyms

• bobby [British]
• bull [slang]
• constable [chiefly British]
• cop
• copper
• flatfoot [slang]
• fuzz
• gendarme
• lawman
• officer
• police officer
• shamus [slang]

Examples of policeman in a Sentence

reported the crime to the nearest policeman

Recent Examples on the Web

Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah, in the south of the enclave near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others, in an air strike on their vehicle on Saturday, health officials said. —Reuters, NBC News, 7 July 2024

Mistaking the metal of the Leica camera at his back for a gun, the Ukrainian policeman stayed silent. —Etgar Lefkovits, Sun Sentinel, 3 July 2024

That idea of being a prisoner of history erupts into a full discourse in the third installment, where a Holocaust survivor turned Israeli policeman (Tom Hagi) who testified in court against Eichmann is now speaking for tour groups in Poland. —Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 28 June 2024

Oberstein said Giga never identified himself as a policeman. —Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 28 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

policeman

noun

po·​lice·​man pə-ˈlē-smən 

: police officer

Medical Definition

policeman

noun

po·​lice·​man pə-ˈlēs-mən 

plural policemen -mən 

: an instrument (as a flat piece of rubber on a glass rod) for removing solids from a vessel (as a beaker)