patrolled

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of patrol.

   Coast guard boats patrolled the harbor throughout the night.

   The border had been patrolled for decades before the fence went up.

   Note

   One spelling serves both the past tense and the past participle. The l doubles before -ed because the stress falls on the final syllable: patrol, patrolled, patrolling. The verb works with or without an object. Guards patrolled the harbor, or simply patrolled through the night. Only the transitive use allows passives like "the border was patrolled," and that is where the adjective comes from.

2. 2
   adjective

   Regularly watched over by guards or police who move through the area on a set route.

   Residents prefer the heavily patrolled districts near downtown.

   A patrolled stretch of coastline tends to deter smugglers.

   Similarguarded, watched

   Oppositeunguarded, unpatrolled

   Note

   A participial adjective that has become fully gradable: it takes more patrolled and most patrolled, and degree adverbs such as heavily or lightly sit naturally in front of it. That is the quickest way to tell it from the past participle. A road patrolled at midnight reports a single event, while the most patrolled road in town describes a standing condition.

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