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# police action

noun phrase (a police action, police actions)

«police action» in the English dictionary: in the primary school — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## In the primary school

Source: Mova's pupils' dictionary. Licence: [Elamur Cosmic License](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/LICENSE/). Reviewed: the dictionary the pupils of Mova's primary school read; its examples quote the lessons and public-domain tales. Ships with Mova.

### Meaning

1. (euphemism, official) a war or military operation not officially called a war.
2. (literal) something done by the police.

### In the lessons

Governments, mainly the USA in the past, have used it to describe fighting abroad without declaring war; in everyday news it can just mean police work. Official register, mainly USA.

### Examples

- Some wars were officially called a «police action».
- The president described the fighting as a police action.
- Historians say the police action was really a war.
- Police action was needed to clear the road.
- Soldiers joked that the police action felt very much like war.
- Calling a war a police action makes it sound smaller.

### Note

In history lessons it often means a war. In local news it means work by the police. Plain word: war.