What does “police” mean?
- 1
nounthe official organization whose job is to keep order and stop crime
The police are looking for the driver.
- 2
verbto control an area or activity and make sure rules are obeyed
The streets were heavily policed during the festival.
Police at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun & verb
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /pəˈlis/ · puh-LEESS
How to use “police” correctly
“Police” is always plural: “The police are coming”, not “The police is coming”. For one person, say “a police officer”.
Common phrases with “police”
- call the police
- police officer
- police station
- police car
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- police officer
- policeman
- policewoman
“police” is on these word lists
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