Patrol

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /pəˈtɹəʊl/
• GenAm IPA: /pəˈtɹoÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

Alternative forms

• patrole obsolete

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.

Full definition of patrol

Noun

1. (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.
2. (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.
3. (military) The guard or men who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.
4. Any perambulation of a particular line or district to guard it; also, the men thus guarding; as, a customs patrol; a fire patrol.
• unknown date A. Hamilton:In France there is an army of patrols to secure her fiscal regulations.
• 2013-08-24, Boots on the street, Philadelphia’s foot-patrol strategy was developed after a study in 2009 by criminologists from Temple University, which is in the 22nd district. A randomised trial overturned the conventional view that foot patrols make locals like the police more and fear crime less, but do not actually reduce crime. In targeted areas, violent crime decreased by 23%.
5. (Scouting) A unit of a troop, typically composed of around eight boys.

From French patrouiller, from Old French patrouiller ("to paddle, paw about, patrol"), from patte ("a paw")

Verb

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

Anagrams

• portal