/ pəˈliːs; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
(often the police ) [ pl. ] an official organization whose job is to make people obey the law and to prevent and solve crime; the people who work for this organization :
A man was arrested by the police and held for questioning.
Get out of the house or I'll call the police .
Police suspect a local gang.
a police car
Hundreds of police in riot gear struggled to control the violence.
—see also kitchen police , secret police
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
( of the police, army, etc. ) to go around a particular area to make sure that nobody is breaking the law there :
The border will be policed by UN officials.
2.
( of a committee, etc. ) to make sure that a particular set of rules is obeyed
SYN monitor :
The profession is policed by its own regulatory body.
For more information see the Cultural Guide
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WORD ORIGIN
late 15th cent. (in the sense public order ): from French , from medieval Latin politia citizenship, government, from Greek politeia citizenship, from politēs citizen, from polis city. Current senses date from the early 19th cent.