patrol

/pəˈtɹəʊl/US/pəˈtɹoʊl/

patrol noun: 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

patrol (countable and uncountable, plural patrols)

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.
- Four members of the squadron were on patrol.
- The watch consisted of twelve convicts—men selected for their good behaviour. Immediately after tattoo had beat they began their patrol. 'No complaint was ever made of them,' remarks Phillip, and they were expressly cautioned to avoid disputes with soldiers or seamen ( many of whom were as great...1899, Louis Becke, Walter Jeffery, Admiral Phillip, Chapter 7
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.
The guards who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.
- After cordial good-bye to our hospitable hostess we motored back to Chaumont where we dined with Colonel Mitchell; and then with another long drive we finally reached home tired but happy at 3.30 in the morning. There staring me in the face was an order directing me to lead my patrol over the lines...1919, Eddie Rickenbacker, “Chapter 7”, in Fighting the Flying Circus
The largest division of officers within a police department or sheriff's office, whose assignment is to patrol and respond to calls for service.
Any perambulation of a particular line or district to guard it; also, the people thus guarding.
- a customs patrol
- a fire patrol
(scouting) A unit of a troop, usually defined by certain ranks or age groups within the troop, and ideally comprised of six to eight members.
- On a makeshift bed in the corner was an old woman looking very sick. Then a patrol of "Missioner" Scouts appeared on the scene: one seized a broom and swept out the room; the next made up the fire with some fuel he had procured and made her a cup of tea; another mended the rickety table, bed and...1913, anonymous author, Boy Scouts and What They Do/Object of Scouting
- The formation of the boys into Patrols of from six to eight and training them as separate units each under its own responsible leader is the key to a good Troop.1920, Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Aids To Scoutmastership, page 24

Verb

patrol (third-person singular simple present patrols, present participle patrolling, simple past and past participle patrolled)

(intransitive) To go the rounds along a chain of sentinels; to traverse a police district or beat.
(transitive) To go the rounds of, as a sentry, guard, or policeman
- to patrol a frontier
- to patrol a beat

patrol meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

patrol in Hindi

going of the rounds: गश्त gaśt

patrol in Tamil

சுற்றுப்பணி, பாரா

patrol in Marathi

गस्त घालणे, गस्त घालण्यासाठी, गस्त घालायला

patrol in Urdu

going of the rounds: گَشْت gaśt

More languagesFewer languages

patrol in Bengali: পাহারা, প্রহরী, পরিভ্রমণকারী প্রহরী, শান্ত্রীদল
patrol in Telugu: పెట్రోలింగ్ చేయడానికి
patrol in Malayalam: റോന്തുചുറ്റൽ, ഭടന്മാർ, പട്രോൾ ചുറ്റുക, കാവൽ നടക്കുക
patrol in Kannada: ಗಸ್ತು, ಪಹರೆ, ಗಸ್ತಿನ ಪೊಲೀಸು ಸಿಬ್ಬಂದಿ, ಗಸ್ತು ಪೊಲೀಸು
patrol in Punjabi: ਗਸ਼ਤ gaśat
patrol in Gujarati: રોન ron
patrol in Odia: ପାଟ୍ରୋଲ୍, ପାଟ୍ରୋଲିଂ କରିବା
patrol in Nepali: गस्ती, गस्ती गर्ने, गस्ती गर्न
patrol in Pashto: کراول karāwúl
patrol in Tagalog: magpatrulya
patrol in Arabic: دَوْرِيَّة dawriyya, خَفْر ḵafr
patrol in Thai: การตระเวน gaan-dtrà-ween, การลาดตระเวน gaan-lâat-dtrà-ween
patrol in Vietnamese: việc tuần tra, đội tuần tra, đi tuần, đi tuần tra

Examples of patrol in a sentence

Immediately after tattoo had beat they began their patrol.1899, Louis Becke, Walter Jeffery, Admiral Phillip, Chapter 7:
There staring me in the face was an order directing me to lead my patrol over the lines in the morning at five o'clock, sharp!1919, Eddie Rickenbacker, “Chapter 7”, in Fighting the Flying Circus:
Philadelphia’s foot-patrol strategy was developed after a study in 2009 by criminologists from Temple University, which is in the 22nd district.2013 August 24, “Boots on the street”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8850:
Watchmen are stationed continuously at each end of the bridge, and the main spans are patrolled twice during the night.1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:

All 40 example sentences with patrol

Forms of patrol

Noun
plural	patrols
Verb
third-person singular present	patrols
present participle	patrolling
past participle	patrolled
past	patrolled

Past tense of patrol: patrolled

Plural of patrol: patrols

Origin of patrol

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, waddle”), German Patsche (“a swatter, beater, paw, puddle, mire”). Related to pad, path.

From French patrouiller, from Old French patrouiller (“to paddle, paw about, patrol”), from patte (“a paw”).

Phrases with patrol

Words that rhyme with patrol

47 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about patrol

What does patrol mean?: Patrol means 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.
What is patrol in Hindi?: Patrol in Hindi is गश्त (gaśt). See Patrol meaning in Hindi.
How do you use patrol in a sentence?: Immediately after tattoo had beat they began their patrol.
What part of speech is patrol?: Patrol can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce patrol?: Patrol is pronounced /pəˈtɹəʊl/ (UK).
What is the plural of patrol?: The plural of patrol is patrols.

Words near patrol in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-patrol.wav.

Cite this entry: “patrol.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/patrol. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.