policeman

po·lice·man
P3O1L1I1C3E1M3A1N1
/pəˈliːsmən/

noun

A police officer, usually a male.

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounpoliceman (plural policemen)

plural policemen

  1. governmentA police officer, usually a male.

    Still agitated, she watched resentfully as two traffic policemen remounted their motorcycles.

    2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 378
    2 more examples

    The policeman who arrests the "Red" does not understand the theories the "Red" is preaching; if he did, his own position as bodyguard of the monied class might seem less pleasant to him.

    1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. I

    Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

    1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

    Synonyms: police officer

  2. chemistryA glass rod capped at one end with rubber, used in a chemistry laboratory for gravimetric analysis.

    Synonyms: rubber policeman

  3. biologyAny skipper of the genus Coeliades.
  4. hobbiesSynonym of enforcer.

    A team may have a policeman or enforcer.

    2002, P. J. Harari, Dave Ominsky, Ice Hockey Made Simple: A Spectator's Guide, page 26

    Synonyms: enforcer

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA police officer, usually a male.

nounA glass rod capped at one end with rubber, used in a chemistry laboratory for gravimetric analysis.

nounSynonym of enforcer.

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Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
  3. Ancient Greekπόλις (pólis)
  4. Ancient Greekπολῑ́της (polī́tēs)
  5. Ancient Greekπολῑτείᾱ (polīteíā)
  6. Latinpolitia
  7. Middle Frenchpolice
  8. Englishpolice
  9. Proto-Indo-European*mon-
  10. Proto-Germanic*mann-
  11. Proto-West Germanic*mann
  12. Old Englishmann
  13. Middle Englishman
  14. Englishpoliceman

From police + -man.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

policeman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/policeman

MLA

“policeman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/policeman. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “policeman,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/policeman.

Source: policeman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.