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

• cop
• officer
• constable [chiefly British]

Examples of policeman in a Sentence

reported the crime to the nearest policeman

Recent Examples on the Web

Born Marilyn Seils in Chicago, Istel was the daughter of a Chicago policeman, Otto Seils. —Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025

The swimmer has a big grin on his face but moments later, a second clip shows the man about to leave the site, before a uniformed policeman stopped his exit. —Colson Thayer, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025

And you guys are the policemen out there on the field. —Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 21 Aug. 2025

Rothstein had lost a substantial sum—by the standards of the day, a fortune—in a poker game run by George (Hump) McManus, an Irish political fixer and a gambler whose brothers were, fittingly, a priest and a policeman. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for policeman

• policemen

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)