Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use patrol in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

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. Example: “Four members of the squadron were on patrol.”

Examples of patrol by meaning

nounA going of the rounds along the chain of sentinels and between the posts, by a guard, usually consisting of three or...

  • Four members of the squadron were on patrol.

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

  • 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

nounAny perambulation of a particular line or district to guard it; also, the people thus guarding.

  • a customs patrol
  • a fire patrol
  • 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

nounA unit of a troop, usually defined by certain ranks or age groups within the troop, and ideally comprised of six to...

  • 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

verbTo go the rounds of, as a sentry, guard, or policeman.

  • to patrol a frontier
  • to patrol a beat
  • 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

More sentences with patrol

  • The ranchhands use four-wheelers to move about the ranch, ferrying supplies and patrolling distant fields and pastures.From the entry four-wheeler
  • The shepherds use dirtbikes to move about the ranch, patrolling distant fields and pastures.From the entry dirtbike
  • The policeman wore two hats, having an administrative role as well as patrolling the beat.From the entry wear two hats
  • When his patrol didn't come back from the front, he and all his buddies were listed as MIA.From the entry mia
  • They lay in wait for the patrol.From the entry wait
  • In times of scarcity, wardens of the peace patrolled the city’s streets to deter the conforaneous vendors’ less scrupulous competition strategies.From the entry conforaneous
  • Policemen once patrolled the streets ahorseback.From the entry ahorseback
  • Louis County community heavily patrolled by white officers, to pick up one more college friend.2020 July 14, Ron Stodghill, “Black Behind the Wheel”, in New York Times. From the entry beater
  • In the United States Navy, submarines lost at sea are said to be on “eternal patrol.”2019 September 22, Kyle Mizokami, “How This U.S. Navy Attack Submarine’s ‘Eternal Patrol’ Really Happened”, in The National Interest. From the entry on eternal patrol
  • A one-man patrol was marching down the dirt road through the woods and shrubs.2016, Gusme Bonomi, Otis: True Sea Monsters, Lulu Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →ISBN. From the entry patroler
  • Around 12:15 a.m. patrolling officers Tremblay and Mathieu attended at the appellant’s home.2011 October 14, Thomas Cromwell, Puisne Justice, Supreme Court of Canada, “R. v. Côté [2011 SCC 46 (CanLII)]”, in Canadian Legal…. From the entry attend
  • He organized the first ski patrol at Beech Mountain when Tom Brigham lured him from Hound Ears.2009, Beech Mountain Historical Society, Beech Mountain, →ISBN, page 50. From the entry ski patrol
  • All modern armies rely on veritable fleets of drones for routine soldiering (static garrisons, patrols, etc.).2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Vehicles: Combat Drones Codex entry. From the entry soldiering
  • When a turian patrol discovered a human fleet attempting to activate a relay, they attacked.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: First Contact War Codex entry. From the entry first contact
  • Two more patrol cars came howling into the street, dispersing the crowd.2007, Richard De Nooy, Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot, page 13. From the entry ecilop
  • A semi had side-swiped my patrol car, breaking windows and destroying the driver's door.2007, John Richard Collier, Inside Out. From the entry side-swipe
  • We had a patrol from Item Co. out in the valley between Pork Chop and Chink land.2005, Chuck Knox, The Sound of Distant Drums, →ISBN. From the entry chink land
  • He radars you while he's sitting in his patrol vehicle under a bridge.2002, Brian Jonathan Wolk, “Producing Inconsistencies in Various Cases”, in Ohio Traffic Tickets are for the Birds: A Practical Defense…. From the entry radar
  • By the time patrol cars got to the friend's house, so had her lawyer.2001 July 15, Amanda Ripley, “Rage Of The Hamptons”, in Time, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2012. From the entry lawyer up
  • The patrol clock and punch key system made sure that crewmen completed their patrols.2000, William D. Peterson, United States Life-Saving Service in Michigan, page 106. From the entry punch
  • Admiral Fitzwallace: A three hour patrol of the no-fly with the five-and-dime.2000, Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing, season 1, episode 22 “What Kind of Day Has It Been”. From the entry five-and-dime
  • Rice is unavailable, and the streets are patrolled by soldiers in full combat and chemical weapon gear.1996 March 9, Ian Johnson, “Taiwan tries to stand tall But residents rush to secure property; some prepare to flee”, in The Baltimore Sun…. From the entry Tungchu
  • After securing Ping Tung, Taiwan and Batan island regular air patrols have resumed.1993 September, Paul A. Forbes, Using a Wargame to Explore the Effects of the Information Content of Messages on CVBG Anti-Air Warfare…. From the entry Ping Tung
  • The small, three-wheeled bicycle-type vehicle is probably the lowest-cost set of wheels for routine, in-park patrol use.1980, United States. National Park Service, Trends, page 40. From the entry bicycle
  • Blakely) left Pearl Harbor on September 23 to begin her third war patrol.1967, Theodore Roscoe, Pig Boats, page 359. From the entry Bashi Channel
  • S. naval patrol airplane into China's air space over Yunghsing Island in the Hsisha Islands, Kwangtung province."1960 May 14 [1960 May 13], “Peking Charges U. S. Plane Flight”, in The Washington Post, volume 83, number 161, sourced from Peking, →ISSN…. From the entry Yunghsing
  • Martian patrol craft, the military on the outlook for any sign of unusual activity.1954, Philip K. Dick, “The Crystal Crypt”, in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, volume 1, Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, page 289. From the entry on the outlook
  • Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day.1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished…. From the entry nipper
  • "Somebody crib the mayor's crown jools, or has some joyous cuss eloped with the auto patrol?"1920 June, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 151, column 2. From the entry crib
  • The following days I spent patrolling the river and grappling for nets.1912, Sessional Papers - Legislature of the Province of Ontario, page 126. From the entry grapple
  • In a Post by Northumbria Police:Sharp eyes on patrol!2025 December 31, Next Door Website. From the entry uplift

Meaning of patrol

  1. 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.
  2. noun 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.
  3. noun The guards who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.

Full definition of patrol

Questions about patrol in a sentence

How do you use patrol in a sentence?
Patrol is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Four members of the squadron were on patrol.”
What is a short sentence with patrol?
“a customs 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.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patrol (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use patrol in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/patrol. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.