police

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pəˈliːs/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
•  Audio (UK)^{help, file}

Noun

Singular none

plural police

A police officer

1. (plural only; not used in singular form) The police are the official people who stop criminals and help people.

   When we saw the man take the money, we called the police.

   The police car stopped the truck that was driving too fast.

See also

• police officer

Verb

Plain form police

Third-person singular polices

Past tense policed

Past participle policed

Present participle policing

1. If you police an area or activity, you watch it to make sure no laws are being broken.

   There are fewer crimes in the countryside, but it's difficult to police such a big area.