police sergeant
6
3.1
- noun
- /pəˈlis ˈsɑrdʒənt/
:
sargento de policía
- The police sergeant supervised the officers during the night shift to ensure everything ran smoothly.
Examples
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During the parade, a police sergeant coordinated traffic to keep the roads clear for the floats.
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After the incident, the police sergeant provided a detailed report to the police chief.
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- My brother's a police sergeant.
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..and then a police sergeant came out.
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I reported to a police sergeant who I knew to be interested.
Fiction book (1992) -
I pointed to the main door of the police station and said, "Go in there and tell the police sergeant what you did!"
Fiction book (2002) -
On one of the cases I was handling, I met a police sergeant from Denver.
-
- There's a police sergeant downstairs.
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"Do you know where this is?" The police sergeant examined the map and said, "Down south, more into Campeche."
Fiction book (1999) -
Jankowski pointed toward the exhausted police sergeant.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
422
3.9
A military or police officer who is in charge of and trains lower-ranked people
5
4.8
A police officer who manages the front desk and daily work in a station
A rank for a person in the army or police who leads a small group
A police sergeant who is in charge of a station during a shift
How Senior
93
3.2
- UK
285
3.0
6
3.1
560
1.1
- UK
99
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a transparent noun–noun combination: 'sergeant' is a rank and 'police' specifies the organization, so a learner who knows both words can readily infer it means a sergeant who works in the police. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English role–modifier compounds, making it accessible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Police sergeant combines police and sergeant, and the word sergeant once meant a helper or soldier put in charge of a small group. So a police sergeant is a police officer who 'serves' by supervising and leading other officers.