patrol

CEFRC1

/pəˈtɹəʊl/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group or person that watches an area regularly.

  2. 02

    verb

    To watch an area regularly for danger or trouble.

Examples

  • He ran away at the sight of a police patrol.

  • The patrol cars cover the whole of the area.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /pəˈtɹoʊl/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

  2. The guards who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.

  3. 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.

More examples

In context

  • Four members of the squadron were on patrol.

  • a customs patrol

  • a fire patrol

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The soldiers will blank the border all night to prevent illegal crossings.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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 *paþjaną, *paþōną (“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,...