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police

From Wiktionary
police is one of the 1000 most common headwords.
point - police - policy

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Singular
none

Plural
police

A police officer
  1. (plural only) (uncountable) The police are the government force who enforce laws, prevent crime, stop and arrest criminals, regulate traffic, help maintain public order, and help with emergencies.
    When we saw the man take the money, we called the police.
    The police car stopped the truck that was driving too fast.
    New Zealand Police took stolen guns, money, and cars, after searching a homes in the city of Auckland.
  2. The police means the city government department that is concerned with enforcing laws and helping with emergencies.
    The Police Department there replaced the previous system of having volunteers keep the city safe.
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Verb

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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.