Patrol definition
The act of moving about an area especially by an authorized and trained person or group, for purposes of observation, inspection, or security.
noun
The act of patrolling.
noun
One or more military vehicles, boats, ships, or aircraft assigned to guard or reconnoiter a given area.
noun
A division of a Boy Scout troop or Girl Scout troop consisting of between six and eight children.
noun
A military unit sent out on a reconnaissance or combat mission.
noun
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A subdivision of a troop of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
noun
A small group of soldiers sent on a mission, as for reconnaissance.
noun
A group of ships, airplanes, etc. used in guarding.
noun
(military) A going of the rounds along the chain of sentinels and between the posts, by a guard, usually consisting of three or four men, to insure greater security from attacks on the outposts.
noun
(military) A movement, by a small body of troops beyond the line of outposts, to explore the country and gain intelligence of the enemy's whereabouts.
noun
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(military) The guard or men who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.
noun
Any perambulation of a particular line or district to guard it; also, the men thus guarding; as, a customs patrol; a fire patrol.
noun
(Scouting) A unit of a troop, typically composed of around eight boys.
noun
(intransitive) To go the rounds along a chain of sentinels; to traverse a police district or beat.
verb
To go the rounds of, as a sentry, guard, or policeman; as, to patrol a frontier; to patrol a beat.
verb
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A person or group of persons who perform such an act.
noun
Patrol is defined as to regularly guard an area.
An example of patrol is for public safety staff to drive around a campus at night.
verb
Patrol means the act of regularly guarding an area, or someone or a group who does the guarding.
An example of a patrol is a team of police officers assigned to watch a particular area.
noun
To engage in a patrol of.
verb
To engage in a patrol.
verb
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To make a regular and repeated circuit of (an area, town, camp, etc.) in guarding or inspecting.
verb
A person or persons patrolling.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
patrol
Plural:
patrolsOrigin of patrol
- French patrouille from patrouiller to patrol alteration of Old French patouiller to paddle about in mud, patrol probably from pate paw patois
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From French patrouille, from Old French patrouille, patouille (“a night-watch", literally “a tramping about"), from patrouiller, patouiller, patoiller (“to paddle or pudder in water, dabble with the feet, begrime, besmear"), from patte, pate (“paw, foot of an animal"), from Vulgar Latin *patta (“paw, foot"), from Frankish *patta (“paw, sole of the foot"), from Proto-Germanic *paþjanÄ…, *paþōnÄ… (“to walk, tread, go, step, pace"), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pent-, *(s)pat- (“path; to walk"), a variant of Proto-Indo-European *pent-, *pat- (“path; to go"); see find. Cognate with Dutch pad, patte (“paw"), Low German pedden (“to step, tread"), German patschen (“to splash, smack, dabble, waddle"), German Patsche (“a swatter, beater, paw, puddle, mire"). Related to pad, path.
From Wiktionary
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From Wiktionary