marshal

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 (usually in compounds) an officer of the highest rank in the British army or air force: Field Marshal Lord Haig * Marshal of the Royal Air Force seealsoAIRCHIEFMARSHAL, AIRMARSHAL, AIRVICE-MARSHAL, FIELDMARSHAL 2 a person responsible for making sure that public events, especially sports events, take place without any problems, and for controlling crowds 3 (in the US) an officer whose job is to carry out court orders: a federal marshal 4 (in some US cities) an officer of high rank in a police or fire department verb (-ll-, AmE -l-) [VN] (written) 1 to gather together and organize the people, things, ideas, etc. that you need for a particular purpose: to marshal your arguments / thoughts / facts * They have begun marshalling forces to send relief to the hurricane victims. 2 to control or organize a large group of people: Police were brought in to marshal the crowd.