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policeman

noun

Simple meaning

A glass rod capped at one end with rubber, used in a chemistry laboratory for gravimetric analysis.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

puhleesmuhn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

pəˈlismən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. ice hockey

    Synonym of enforcer.

  2. chemistry

    A glass rod capped at one end with rubber, used in a chemistry laboratory for gravimetric analysis.

  3. law enforcement

    A police officer, usually a male.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (ice hockey) Synonym of enforcer.

Used this way, policeman is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

military policemanyoung policemantraffic policemanwhite policemanlocal policemanfirst policeman

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • policeman birdnounCompound term

    Large mostly white Australian stork.

  • military policemannounCompound term

    A member of the military police who polices soldiers and guards prisoners.

  • motorcycle policemannounCompound term

    A policeman who rides a motorcycle (and who checks the speeds of motorists).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: synonym of enforcer

police officerofficer

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.