police force

noun

: a body of trained officers entrusted by a government with maintenance of public peace and order, enforcement of laws, and prevention and detection of crime

Synonyms

• constabulary
• finest
• force
• fuzz
• heat [slang]
• man
• police

Examples of police force in a Sentence

He joined the local police force.

mobilized practically the entire police force to track down the escaped criminal

Recent Examples on the Web

The sale was halted, and Norfolk Constabulary, the local police force, was called in. —Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 13 Mar. 2025

In the comics, the Thor Corp is Doom's personal police force, made up of alternate versions of Thor. —Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 12 Mar. 2025

According to La Policia Nacional, the country's national police force, Konanki was last seen entering the beach early Thursday morning at the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana. —Lorraine Taylor, Fox News, 11 Mar. 2025

The last time Missouri took control of St. Louis’ police force was just before the start of the Civil War, when the state’s secessionist-leaning leaders were trying to prevent police officers from taking up arms against the Confederacy. —Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for police force

• bourse
• coarse
• course
• gorse
• hoarse
• horse
• norse
• source
• concourse
• divorce
• endorse
• enforce

Kids Definition

police force

noun

: a body of officers trained and entrusted by a government to keep public peace, enforce laws, and prevent and detect crime

Legal Definition

police force

noun

: a body of trained officers entrusted by a government with maintenance of public peace and order, enforcement of laws, and prevention and detection of crime