police officer
560
1.1
- noun
- /pəˈliːs ˈɔfɪsər/
:
agente de policía
- These are police officers, Miss Van den Haas.
- become a police officer
- former police officer
- police officer shot the criminal
Of course we want police officers to have common sense.
- Of course we want police officers to have common sense.
- We've got hospitals, we've got police officers, we've got supermarkets.
- A Chicago police officer was shot in the arm.
- Yo ChatGPT when do police officers in the UK retire?
- He looks suspicious to the police officer and he runs.
- It's the local school board that decides the role of police officers in individual schools.
- So, yeah, I was, I was a police officer a long, long time ago.
- And we heard great stories from police officers who are able to accomplish that.
- So we as as human beings, even police officers, we're, we're human.
- Now, how are four African American police officers white supremacists?
- And I've spoken to police officers of whom I'm highly critical.
- And so they sent a police officer and the following thing happens.
- Rich always baffles me 'cause he is still a police officer, still in the military.
- He hated white police officers, in my opinion, Just my opinion.
Examples
-
A Chicago police officer was shot in the arm.
-
We cheered the police officers at the time.
-
Of course we want police officers to have common sense.
-
Now that is the work of hard working police officers up and down this country.
-
I doubt a police officer is the right person to ask.
-
In the wake of the incident, neighborhood residents and local police officers tried to account for what happened.
Academic text (2008) -
Parents are frustrated, saying police officers did not respond fast enough.
-
The others on the jury sincerely doubt that a police officer would use unnecessary force.
Fiction book (1992) -
Just then, the door bursts open and several police officers storm in with their weapons drawn.
Fiction book (1994) -
A Chicago police officer was shot in the arm while responding to a call for help.
Synonyms
∞
6.3
A person who works for the police
∞
1.2
A person who works for the police and enforces the law
303
1.0
A man whose job is to keep people safe and enforce laws
112
4.1
A police officer who rides a horse to watch streets and crowds
99
4.1
A police officer of low rank who works in local communities
46
3.5
A police officer who works for a state government, often on highways
28
4.2
A police officer who walks around an area to keep people safe
16
1.1
A woman who works as a police officer
9
3.5
A person who has legal power to make people follow the law, like a police officer or sheriff
5
2.2
A person who makes sure people follow the law, like a police officer or sheriff
1
2.8
A low-ranking person who enforces the law and helps people
1
5.8
A female police officer who patrols an area to keep people safe
How Senior
93
3.2
- UK
285
3.0
6
3.1
560
1.1
- UK
99
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a member of a police force' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'police' (the law-enforcement organization) with 'officer' (a person holding an official role), so a learner who knows both words can infer the compound meaning. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard noun + noun/role formation in English, making it immediately comprehensible at B1 level.
Etymology
Police officer comes from older words for the people who keep a town safe: police once meant the system that keeps public order, and officer meant a person with an official job or 'office'. So the picture is of a person whose job is to keep the streets and people safe, which is why it means 'a member of the police'.