1
2
obsolete
: an officer who enforces the judgments of a court or the commands of one in authority
3
: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant
broadly
: noncommissioned officer
4
: an officer in a police force ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant and in England just below inspector
Examples of sergeant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
However, officers from Oakley will be accompanied by a sergeant.
—
Hema Sivanandam, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025
Commander Mabry brought two other officers from Columbus, including Mr. Dyer, who would later become a sergeant, to observe.
—Alfredo Sosa, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Jan. 2025
Nevertheless, the police sergeant said if workers crossed the road, they would be arrested.
—Racquel Bazos, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2025
There are currently 4,300 sergeants in the NYPD, which has about 36,000 members.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for sergeant 
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Hema Sivanandam, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025
Commander Mabry brought two other officers from Columbus, including Mr. Dyer, who would later become a sergeant, to observe.
—Alfredo Sosa, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Jan. 2025
Nevertheless, the police sergeant said if workers crossed the road, they would be arrested.
—Racquel Bazos, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2025
There are currently 4,300 sergeants in the NYPD, which has about 36,000 members.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for sergeant
Dictionary Entries Near sergeant
Cite this Entry
“Sergeant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sergeant. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sergeant
noun
ser·geant
ˈsär-jənt 
1
: a military noncommissioned officer with any of the ranks above corporal in the army or the marines or above airman first class in the air force
especially
: an enlisted person with the rank just below that of staff sergeant
2
: a police officer ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant
Etymology
Middle English sergeant "sergeant, attendant, servant," from early French sergent, serjant (same meaning), from Latin servient-, serviens, a form of the verb servire "to serve"
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