gendarme

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

gen·darme

(zhän′därm′, zhäN′därm′)

1. A member of the French national police organization constituting a branch of the armed forces with responsibility for general law enforcement.

2. Slang A police officer.

3. A subsidiary pinnacle on a steep mountain ridge.

[French, from Old French gent d'armes, gendarme, sing. of gens d'armes, mounted soldiers, men-at-arms : gens, people, men (from Latin gentēs, pl. of gēns, clan; see genə- in Indo-European roots) + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-) + armes, pl. of arme, weapon; see arm².]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gendarme

(ˈʒɒndɑːm; French ʒɑ̃darm)

1. (Military) a member of the police force in France or in countries formerly influenced or controlled by France

2. (Law) a slang word for a policeman

3. (Geological Science) a sharp pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge, esp in the Alps

[C16: from French, from gens d'armes people of arms]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gen•darme

(ˈʒɑn dɑrm; Fr. ʒɑ̃ˈdarm)

n., pl. -darmes (-dɑrmz; Fr. -ˈdarm)

1. a police officer in any of several European countries, esp. in France.

2. a soldier, esp. in France, serving in an army group acting as armed police with authority over civilians.

[1540–50; < Middle French, earlier gens d'armes, alter. of gent d'armes people at arms]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

gendarme - a French policeman

gendarmerie, gendarmery - French police force; a group of gendarmes or gendarmes collectively

police officer, policeman, officer - a member of a police force; "it was an accident, officer"

gendarme

noun

Slang. A member of a law-enforcement agency:

bluecoat, finest, officer, patrolman, patrolwoman, peace officer, police, policeman, police officer, policewoman.

Informal: cop, law.

Slang: bull, copper, flatfoot, fuzz, heat, man (often uppercase).

Chiefly British: bobby, constable, peeler.

Translations

gendarme

zsandár

gendarme

[ˈʒɑ̃ːndɑːm] N → gendarme mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gendarme

[ˈʒɒndɑː^rm] n → gendarme m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

gendarme

[ˈʒɒndɑːm] n (French policeman) → gendarme m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"What would you have, captain?" said one gendarme. "The warbler has fled, and the bat remains."

View in context

Letellier cast his eyes around him, and seeing the black and meager clerk with the scowling brow, scribbling away in his office, he preferred him to the best gendarme for the execution of this design.

View in context

But, at the chateau, a gendarme placed in the vestibule denied us admission up the staircase of the first floor.

View in context

In spite of the trampling of the French gendarmes' horses, which were pushing back the crowd, Rostov kept his eyes on every movement of Alexander and Bonaparte.

View in context

Here I mostly live, and here I shall certainly die, if the gendarmes ever track me here.

"A rescue!" cried Muscari, springing to his feet and waving his hat; "the gendarmes are on them!

I may tell you without offence of a way in which you will do more good than by helping the gendarmes, who are bound to break through in any case.

View in context

The ante-chamber was full of police agents and gendarmes, in the midst of whom, carefully watched, but calm and smiling, stood the prisoner.

View in context

This is why - because in Corsica your dead will not leave you alone - Dominic's brother had to go into the MAQUIS, into the bush on the wild mountain-side, to dodge the gendarmes for the insignificant remainder of his life, and Dominic had charge of his nephew with a mission to make a man of him.

View in context

She fancied the gendarmes entering the house, saying to her: "We want your daughter; give her up:" the gendarmes with the severe, hard faces of men on duty.

View in context

"You know very well that I have but to lift my finger and the gendarmes will be here.