From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconstablecon‧sta‧ble /ˈkʌnstəbəl $ ˈkɑːn-/ noun [countable] 1 SCPa British police officer of the lowest rank2 in the US, someone who has some of the powers of a police officer and can send legal documents that order someone to do something
Examples from the Corpus
constable• Yet, according to the chief constable, in the same period calls for service have increased by 85 percent.• I recognised the uniform of a police constable.• They stopped at the modern bungalow that was the home and office of the local police constable.• But all Mrs Ullman found was the intimidating bulk of three police constables.• Before shaving, he rang his office and spoke to the woman police constable who acted as his secretary.• Seven other County Durham officers and a special constable have also been commended by the chief constable.• I've already given their names to the constable in the library.• The constables were known to the certificate-holder personally.Origin constable (1800-1900) constable “high-ranking royal official, local officer of the law” ((12-21 centuries)), from Old French conestable, from Late Latin comes stabuli “officer of the stable” 