Definitions for police
pəˈlis; ˈpoʊ lis; ˈdi trɔɪt; ˈsi mɛnt; ˈsi gɑr; ˈgɪt ɑr; ˈɪn ʃʊər əns; ˈʌm brɛl ə; ˈaɪ diəpo·lice

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. police, police force, constabulary, law(verb)

   the force of policemen and officers

   "the law came looking for him"

2. patrol, police(verb)

   maintain the security of by carrying out a patrol

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. police(Noun)

   Policy.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

2. police(Noun)

   Communal living; civilization.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

3. police(Noun)

   The regulation of a given community or society; administration, law and order etc.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

4. police(Noun)

   A civil force granted the legal authority to enforce the law and maintain public order.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

5. police(Noun)

   A police officer.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

6. police(Verb)

   To enforce the law and keep order among (a group).

   Extra security was hired to police the crowd at the big game.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

7. police(Verb)

   To patrol an area.

   Etymology: From police, from politia, from πολιτεία.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Police(noun)

   a judicial and executive system, for the government of a city, town, or district, for the preservation of rights, order, cleanliness, health, etc., and for the enforcement of the laws and prevention of crime; the administration of the laws and regulations of a city, incorporated town, or borough

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

2. Police(noun)

   that which concerns the order of the community; the internal regulation of a state

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

3. Police(noun)

   the organized body of civil officers in a city, town, or district, whose particular duties are the preservation of good order, the prevention and detection of crime, and the enforcement of the laws

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

4. Police(noun)

   military police, the body of soldiers detailed to preserve civil order and attend to sanitary arrangements in a camp or garrison

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

5. Police(noun)

   the cleaning of a camp or garrison, or the state / a camp as to cleanliness

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

6. Police(verb)

   to keep in order by police

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

7. Police(verb)

   to make clean; as, to police a camp

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. , fr. to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. citizen, fr. city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]

Freebase(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Police

   The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from military or other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing. Law enforcement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity. Policing has included an array of activities in different situations, but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order. In some societies, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these developed within the context of maintaining the class system and the protection of private property. Some parts of the world may suffer from police corruption. Alternative names for police force include constabulary, gendarmerie, police department, police service, crime prevention, protective services, law enforcement agency, civil guard or civic guard. Members may be referred to as police officers, troopers, sheriffs, constables, rangers, peace officers or civic/civil guards. Police of the Soviet-era Eastern Europe were called the militsiya. The Irish police are called the Garda Síochána; a police officer is called a garda. And although the word "police" comes from Greek, the Greek police is Αστυνομία.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Police

   pō-lēs′, n. the system of regulations of a city, town, or district for the preservation of order and enforcement of law: the internal government of a state: (short for Police′-force) the civil officers employed to preserve order, &c.—v.t. to guard or maintain order in: to put in order.—n.pl. Police′-commiss′ioners, a body of men appointed to regulate the appointments and duties of the police.—ns. Police′-inspect′or, a superior officer of police who has charge of a department, next in rank to a superintendent; Police′-mag′istrate, one who presides in a police court; Police′man, a member of a police-force; Police′-off′ice, -stā′tion, the headquarters of the police of a district, used also as a temporary place of confinement; Police′-off′icer, -con′stable, a policeman; Police′-rate, a tax levied for the support of the police.—Police court, a court for trying small offences brought before it by the police. [Fr.,—L. politia—Gr. politeia, the condition of a state—politēs, a citizen—polis, a city.]

The Roycroft Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. police

   Similia similibus.

U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Police

   Agents of the law charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order among the citizenry.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. police

   The cleaning of a camp or garrison; the state of a camp in regard to cleanliness.

Etymology and Origins(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Police

   The appropriate designation of civil guardians of the peace, from the Greek polis, city.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'police' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #304

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'police' in Written Corpus Frequency: #483

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'police' in Nouns Frequency: #95

How to pronounce police?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say police in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of police in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of police in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of police in a Sentence

1. Rebecca Morton:

   I wore the same outfit as I wore to graduation to all eleven of my exams and no university officials raised any issues with it, even though part of the invigilators’ job at examinations is to police subfusc, as a result I assumed the outfit was fine and wore it to graduation – hence my anger and confusion when I wasn’t allowed into the ceremony.

2. Sheriff Chitwood:

   We knew we were going to get beat up, criticized, a bit because there were several officers there. It never looks good. But then I was shown the body camera video, i watched the video. Mr. Griffin was great with my deputies. And my deputies were extremely professional. I called each and every one of them to thank them for their professionalism. I called Mr. Griffin, too, and thanked him for how he handled the situation. When you get stopped by police this is how to act. This really is a teachable moment. We can learn from each other.

3. Bruce Schneier:

   It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.

4. Nikola Janjusevic:

   No one informed police the procession would be held.

5. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

   I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Images & Illustrations of police

Popularity rank by frequency of use