as in to guard
to walk or go around or through (an area, building, etc.) especially in order to make sure that it is safe
The squad had orders to patrol the area. The border is patrolled by the army.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of patrol
David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2025
The border patrol again arrested Centeno-Melchor near Hildalgo, Texas, in September 2019.
—Jackson Walker, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2025
David Wolman, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
People have been pushed to the tracks even when police officers were patrolling on the platform but were not close enough to stop the attack.
—James Barron, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for patrol 
Noun
Agents in patrol boats stopped the 32-foot Contender center console — with the name The Salesman’s Ship written on the back — about four nautical miles off Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach.
—David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 10 Jan. 2025
The border patrol again arrested Centeno-Melchor near Hildalgo, Texas, in September 2019.
—Jackson Walker, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2025
Verb
Suddenly fighting a war on two oceans, the U.S. Navy simply didn’t have the resources to patrol more than 2,000 miles of Atlantic coastline.
—David Wolman, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
People have been pushed to the tracks even when police officers were patrolling on the platform but were not close enough to stop the attack.
—James Barron, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for patrol
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patrol
Noun
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Canine work also includes some of the partnerships that have been the backbone of human-dog coevolution, such as guarding, herding, hunting, and acting as sentry.—
Jessica Pierce,
TIME,
15 Dec. 2024
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About a quarter-mile down the road, two soaring launch towers – one for each launch pad – sit sentry on SpaceX’s launch site as workers mill around.—
Rick Jervis,
USA TODAY,
18 Dec. 2024
Verb
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As for the status of Butler trade talks, the agent for Suns guard Bradley Beal, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, reiterated to The Athletic on Tuesday that nothing is brewing between the Heat and Phoenix that involves his longtime client.—
Sam Amick,
The Athletic,
15 Jan. 2025
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Teasing out the true effect of the risk of Trump tariffs on overall import gains is difficult because companies closely guard trade data.—
Lisa Baertlein and Ellen Zhang,
USA TODAY,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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With only a few trustworthy men floating through the sloppy, makeshift, take-all-comers outpost, Jim pairs Sara with Isaac (Taylor Kitsch), an even gruffer and fairer man who nonetheless wants nothing to do with the difficult gig.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
9 Jan. 2025
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Silver Lyan, The City’s Most Idiosyncratic Cocktail Lounge Over in Penn Quarter, the cocktail menu changes annually at Silver Lyan, the extremely creative/boundary pushing and first U.S. outpost of global innovator Ryan Chetiyawardana’s (aka Mr. Lyan’s) award winning cocktail lounges.—
Laurie Werner,
Forbes,
9 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Despite reforestation efforts in Scandinavia, Dahl says extensive logging has led to the decline of some plant and animal species, and argues that Nordic forestry companies need to adapt their management practices to ensure nature remains protected as demand for wood increases.—
Maddy Savage,
TIME,
18 Jan. 2025
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Regular nail maintenance not only protects your surfaces but also your skin from their playful scratches.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The union ran practice pickets in preparation for a potential strike last week in locations including San Diego and Long Island, New York.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
20 Jan. 2025
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The suffragists returned four years later for a six-days-a-week, months-long picket, the first in the country’s history.—
Amanda Becker,
Them,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The first was during the fall of Kabul in 2021, when Mr. Burns vowed that the 9,000 commandoes who had worked with the agency would be evacuated, along with 25,000 family members.—
Julian E. Barnes,
New York Times,
18 Jan. 2025
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This is shorthand for precision strikes or using commandos to take out senior North Korean officials and vital command centers.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
4 Jan. 2025
Noun
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As for her accessories, Djokovic added a delicate pair of earrings, stacks of bracelets, a watch and dainty rings.—
Julia Teti,
WWD,
22 Jan. 2025
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That is why our forecasts, watches and warnings focus on specific impacts such as wind conditions, snowfall, ice, temperature, visibility and other impacts.—
Doyle Rice,
USA TODAY,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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And assassins from a coalition of all the local indigenous tribes — out for blood over the murder of Jimmy the Creek, one of their own, last episode — slit the throats of Ming’s rear guard.—
Sean T. Collins,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2024
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Indeed, Dnipropetrovsk has been a key rear guard for the Ukrainian military and National Guard.—
Taras Kuzio,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Jan. 2015
Thesaurus Entries Near patrol
Cite this Entry
“Patrol.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patrol. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.
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