Patrol

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·add. ·noun ·see Boy Scout.

II. Patrol ·vi To go the rounds along a chain of sentinels; to traverse a police district or beat.

III. Patrol ·vi The guard or men who go the rounds for observation; a detachment whose duty it is to patrol.

IV. Patrol ·v t To go the rounds of, as a sentry, guard, or policeman; as, to patrol a frontier; to patrol a beat.

V. Patrol ·vi Any perambulation of a particular line or district to guard it; also, the men thus guarding; as, a customs patrol; a fire patrol.

VI. Patrol ·vi A movement, by a small body of troops beyond the line of outposts, to explore the country and gain intelligence of the enemy's whereabouts.

VII. Patrol ·vi A going of the rounds along the chain of sentinels and between the posts, by a guard, usually consisting of three or four men, to insure greater security from attacks on the outposts.