From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsergeantser‧geant /ˈsɑːdʒənt $ ˈsɑːr-/ ●○○ noun [countable] PMPOSITION/RANKa low rank in the army, air force, police etc, or someone who has this rank
Examples from the Corpus
sergeant• Two policemen are responsible for community relations and two policewomen for juvenile liaison, one each of whom is a sergeant.• I was called from the incident room by the desk sergeant who recognised her.• He would leave the packet open so that the desk sergeant saw they were not getting a parcel bomb.• Later that afternoon the duty sergeant allowed him an hour off to dig the grave in which they would bury Private Prescott.• Smith admits he did wrong by committing adultery with the wife of a Marine sergeant, while the enlisted man was overseas.• The sergeant felt uneasy while he and Blanche stood on the drawbridge.• Reeves continued his military career, was promoted to sergeant and was often stationed overseas while his wife remained in Copperas Cove.Origin sergeant (1100-1200) Old French sergent “servant, sergeant”, from Latin servens, present participle of servire; → SERVE1 