marshal Hear it!

marshal Definition

mar·shal (mär′s̸həl)

noun

  1. a groom or, later, a master of the horse in a medieval royal household
  2. a high official of a royal household or court, as in medieval times, in charge of military affairs, ceremonies, etc.
  3. a military commander; specif.,
    1. field marshal
    2. in various foreign armies, a general officer of the highest rank
    3. an officer of the highest rank in the British Royal Air Force
  4. an official in charge of ceremonies, processions, rank and order, etc. who arranges the order of march
  5. ☆ an officer of various kinds in the U.S.; specif.,
    1. a federal officer appointed to a judicial district to carry out orders and perform functions like those of a sheriff
    2. a minor officer of the law in some cities
    3. the head, or a high-ranking officer, of a police or fire department in some cities

Etymology: ME marescal < OFr mareschal < Frank *marhskalk or OHG marahscalh, lit., horse servant (> ML marescalcus) < marah, horse (akin to OE mearh, horse: see mare) + scalh, servant < IE base *sel-, to spring

transitive verb -·shaled or -·shalled, -·shal·ing or -·shal·ling

  1. to arrange (troops, things, ideas, etc.) in order; array; dispose to marshal forces for battle
    1. to direct as a marshal; manage
    2. to lead or guide ceremoniously

marshal Related Forms
mar′·shalcy noun or mar′·shal·ship′
marshal Synonyms

marshal

n.

  1. A high military officer

    provost marshal, field marshal, air marshal; see officer 1.

  2. A local policeman

    constable, patrolman, deputy; see officer 2, policeman, sheriff.

marshal Synonyms

marshal

v.

order, dispose, direct; see lead 1.

marshal Law Definition

n

  1. A federal court employee with police-like powers who provides security, guards prisoners, and seizes property in execution of judgments, among other functions.
  2. A state or local official with responsibilities like those of a sheriff.
  3. Arranging in order of priority or in a logical pattern.
marshal Usage Examples

Object

  • yard: The first year is really a sort of marshaling yard to persuade them to sit down.
  • defense: Town had most of the play but Spalding's well marshaled defense left very little space.
  • argument: Marshaling arguments to a marshal stream ( obtained from the remote reference layer ).
  • troop: Substitute Sam Webb, returning from rugby in Australia, took the game to Dagenham and Mark Dempsey marshaled the troops with some authority.
  • army: He's seen there as marshaling the army of demons.

Converse of object

  • inform: Inform the flag marshal of oil etc. Do not make unnecessary signals to the competitors.

Adjective modifier

  • federal: They're all on their way to a new maximum security prison, being transported by air by a bunch of federal marshals.
  • armed: Armed sky marshals will routinely sit next to you.
  • trained: Ensure that trained Fire Marshals are appointed for each of their offices.
  • chief: Dave New will be asked if he wishes to be chief marshal.
  • experienced: They provided effectively all the marshals apart from one important junctions where I wanted to put an experienced race marshal.

Modifying Another Word

  • ably: Director Nicholas Philibert follows a class made up of a mixture of ages, ably marshaled by their superb teacher Georges Lopez.
  • superbly: The home defense was superbly marshaled by McMullen & Graham who give little away.

Noun used with modifier

  • dive: For a trainee dive marshal, life's a lot simpler.
  • taxi: A pilot scheme run by Bristol council was so popular that the council now employs taxi marshals permanently.
  • sky: Have you picked the Federal Pen the sky marshals are to be housed in yet?
  • air: The offender was duly taken care of by a US air marshal.
  • field: I shouted: " General, I am an officer, a field marshal!
  • flag: Inform the flag marshal of oil etc. Do not make unnecessary signals to the competitors.

Preposition: of

  • army: Field marshal of an in-house army that rivals that of a middle-sized firm, Ahmed commands 80 lawyers plus another 50 fee-earners.