What does gendarme in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word gendarme in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use gendarme in French.

The word gendarme in French means police officer, watchdog, firebug, smoked sausage, bossyboots, militate against, kick up a fuss, make a noise, night-watchman state, sleeping policeman, play cops and robbers. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word gendarme

police officer

nom masculin et féminin (militaire assurant l'ordre public)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le gendarme est garant du respect des lois et du code de la route. Je me suis fait arrêter par les gendarmes parce que je roulais à 105km/h au lieu de 90km/h.
I was pulled over by the police because I was doing 65 mph instead of 60.

watchdog

nom masculin (figuré (autorité) (figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
L'Autorité européenne de sécurité des aliments (EFSA) est le gendarme de l'agro-alimentaire.
The EFSA is in charge of policing Europe's food standards.

firebug

nom masculin (familier (insecte : pyrrhocoris) (insect)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le gendarme est un insecte rouge à points noirs.
The firebug is a red insect with black spots.

smoked sausage

nom masculin (type de saucisson)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Nous avons pris des gendarmes pour l'apéro.
We got smoked sausage for the aperitif.

bossyboots

nom masculin (figuré (personne autoritaire) (pejorative, informal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Quel gendarme ! Il ne peut jamais demander, il faut toujours qu'il exige.
What a bossyboots! He can never just ask--he always has to demand.

militate against

(soutenu (se fâcher, protester)

Il faut se gendarmer contre la déforestation.

kick up a fuss, make a noise

verbe pronominal (soutenu (réagir vivement pour peu de choses) (informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

night-watchman state

nom masculin (État minimal) (politics)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Un État-gendarme est un État qui limite ses fonctions à l'armée, à la police et à la justice.

sleeping policeman

nom masculin (vieilli (ralentisseur) (US, dated or UK, figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ralentis, il y a un gendarme allongé !

play cops and robbers

locution verbale (jouer à s'attraper) (informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.