as in to guard
to walk or go around or through (an area, building, etc.) especially in order to make sure that it is safe
The squad had orders to patrol the area. The border is patrolled by the army.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of patrol
Amanda Musa, CNN Money, 18 Feb. 2026
Officers on routine patrol were near the scene and responded almost immediately, authorities said.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026
Some of these volunteer drivers are already patrolling local streets in search of people who need shelter on frigid nights.
—Mark Reynolds, The Providence Journal, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for patrol
Noun
One of those people later died from their injuries, according to the state patrol.
—Amanda Musa, CNN Money, 18 Feb. 2026
Officers on routine patrol were near the scene and responded almost immediately, authorities said.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Verb
Three additional brush trucks were added to patrol the city.
—Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026
Some of these volunteer drivers are already patrolling local streets in search of people who need shelter on frigid nights.
—Mark Reynolds, The Providence Journal, 14 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for patrol
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patrol
Noun
-
Kochab is the brighter of the two outer stars in the bowl of the Little Dipper (the other being Pherkad), which seem to march in a circle like sentries around Polaris, the North Star.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
14 Dec. 2025
-
The incident occurred while one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) was returning from its sentry duties off Bentinck Island.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
10 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The other two are occupied by undrafted rookie guards Curtis Jones and Tamar Bates.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Rookie guards Max Shulga and John Tonje, the latter acquired from Utah in the Boucher trade, are Boston’s other two-way players.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Under Mariano Rubinacci’s lead, the tailoring house rebranded as Rubinacci in 1963 and opened an outpost on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone in 1974.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
19 Feb. 2026
-
These are Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, which has outposts in Abidjan, Dakar, and Paris; Madrid’s Galería Guillermo de Osma; Paris’s Galerie Kaléidoscope; Milan’s ML Fine Art; and Tokyo’s Kotaro Nukaga.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Legal experts say the court records and videos show that the administration is often abusing the law to target activities protected by the First Amendment, rather than using it to defend federal officers.—
Isabelle Chapman,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
-
In areas within the USDA hardiness zones, a 2 to 4 inch layer of organic mulch will help protect roots and maintain the moisture level in the soil.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Or are the neighbor's dogs enjoying the gap between two pickets?—
Josh Kelly,
Oklahoman,
16 Jan. 2026
-
The two were invited by Blue Cross to relocate the 30-minute picket — which featured a brief but coordinated step-tap dance number — from a grassy easement.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
3 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Below, the troops run toward a Taliban position during a British commando offensive.—
Freddie Clayton,
NBC news,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Day in, day out, American planes, drones, and commando teams go out and hunt terrorists across several continents.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Seventy-six signings have been made on Parkinson’s watch.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Fresno has been issued a freeze watch.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado,
Sacbee.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The north was expected to be America’s rear guard, a place where values like democracy and women’s rights might have taken hold.—
Azam Ahmed,
New York Times,
24 Dec. 2024
-
And assassins from a coalition of all the local indigenous tribes — out for blood over the murder of Jimmy the Creek, one of their own, last episode — slit the throats of Ming’s rear guard.—
Sean T. Collins,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Patrol.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patrol. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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