police

Universal Words 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 / enquiry / warning * Hundreds of police in riot gear struggled to control the violence. seealsoSECRETPOLICE 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: The profession is policed by its own regulatory body. * The government has called on newspapers to police themselves.