Definition of sergeant
1 : sergeant at arms
2 obsolete : an officer who enforces the judgments of a court or the commands of one in authority
3 : a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant; broadly : noncommissioned officer
4 : an officer in a police force ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant and in England just below inspector
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Recent Examples of sergeant from the Web
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Reinhold Hanning was a former SS sergeant whose conviction last year on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as an Auschwitz guard was hailed as a long-overdue victory for Holocaust victims.
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But the sergeant, who was charged this week with murder, hadn’t received it.
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Reinhold Hanning, a former SS sergeant convicted of 170,000 counts of accessory to murder last year for serving as an Auschwitz guard, has died.
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Police arrested Palmer, a 21-year-veteran of the department who is a sergeant in the patrol division.
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The crash happened about 6:35 p.m. in the outbound lanes at Ashland Avenue, near the city's University Village neighborhood, according to an Illinois State Police sergeant.
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A New York City police sergeant was charged with murder for fatally shooting a 66-year-old emotionally disturbed woman in the Bronx, an act commissioner James O’Neill previously called a failure, police officials said Wednesday.
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The arrest of the sergeant, Hugh Barry, followed months of investigation into the encounter with the woman, Deborah Danner, 66.
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The other marks the grave of James B. Abbott, a sergeant in the 1st Vermont Cavalry.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sergeant'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of sergeant
Middle English, servant, attendant, sergeant, from Anglo-French sergant, serjant, from Latin servient-, serviens, present participle of servire to serve
SERGEANT Defined for English Language Learners
sergeant
playDefinition of sergeant for English Language Learners
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: an officer of low rank in the army or marines
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: an officer in a police force with a rank below captain or lieutenant
SERGEANT Defined for Kids
sergeant
playDefinition of sergeant for Students
1 : a noncommissioned officer in the army or marine corps ranking above a corporal or in the air force ranking above an airman first class
2 : an officer in a police force
Learn More about sergeant
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See words that rhyme with sergeant Spanish Central: Translation of sergeant Nglish: Translation of sergeant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of sergeant for Arabic speakers
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