police officer

English

Alternative forms

Noun

police officer (plural police officers)

  1. A peace officer who is a member of a police force.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:police officer
    Hypernyms: officer (elliptically synonymous when the context is clear) < person

Usage notes

  • This term is the gender-neutral equivalent of policeman (male) and policewoman (female).
  • The military distinction of officer versus nonofficer ranks usually does not apply to this term; in the usual usage, any properly engaged (i.e., qualified and oath-sworn) employee of a police force is an officer thereof.

Derived terms

Translations

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