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
Zhao, an active-duty Army supply sergeant, allegedly began conspiring to obtain and send national defense information to people in China sometime in July 2024.
—
Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News, 7 Mar. 2025
Zhao, a battery supply sergeant was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery Brigade and Tian is a health services administrator.
—Karina Tsui, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
Jian Zhao, a battery supply sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state, is alleged by federal prosecutors to have communicated with an unnamed co-conspirator from July to December of last year in order to sell an encrypted military computer and 20 classified hard drives.
—Jack Date, ABC News, 6 Mar. 2025
Details about what information the sergeant is accused of misusing have not been released.
—Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sergeant
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Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News, 7 Mar. 2025
Zhao, a battery supply sergeant was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery Brigade and Tian is a health services administrator.
—Karina Tsui, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
Jian Zhao, a battery supply sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state, is alleged by federal prosecutors to have communicated with an unnamed co-conspirator from July to December of last year in order to sell an encrypted military computer and 20 classified hard drives.
—Jack Date, ABC News, 6 Mar. 2025
Details about what information the sergeant is accused of misusing have not been released.
—Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Feb. 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 12 Mar. 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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