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
The sergeant happened to be responsible for overseeing all use-of-force incidents at the Central Courthouse.
—
Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Oct. 2025
That includes two sergeants on the department’s bomb squad, which requires personnel to be able to respond to emergencies within an hour.
—Ryan MacAsero, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
The city of Little Rock has reached an agreement with police officers and sergeants to extend a union agreement through 2027, according to a news release issued Friday.
—Arkansas Online, 25 Oct. 2025
The sergeant noted at least 12 bruises alone were found on the boy from the forehead down to the jaw on both sides of Campbell's face and that the child smelled overwhelmingly like urine.
—Adrienne Davis, jsonline.com, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
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Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Oct. 2025
That includes two sergeants on the department’s bomb squad, which requires personnel to be able to respond to emergencies within an hour.
—Ryan MacAsero, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
The city of Little Rock has reached an agreement with police officers and sergeants to extend a union agreement through 2027, according to a news release issued Friday.
—Arkansas Online, 25 Oct. 2025
The sergeant noted at least 12 bruises alone were found on the boy from the forehead down to the jaw on both sides of Campbell's face and that the child smelled overwhelmingly like urine.
—Adrienne Davis, jsonline.com, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
Cite this Entry
“Sergeant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sergeant. Accessed 4 Nov. 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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