Meaning & use
all points bulletin
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableAmericaninformal
a message sent by police to all officers in an area, asking them to watch for a person or vehicle.
Grammar: Countable: an all points bulletin, two all points bulletins.
Patterns
- issue an all points bulletin
- an all points bulletin for someone
The police issued an all points bulletin for the missing car.
An all points bulletin was sent out after the robbery.
They heard an all points bulletin on the police radio.
Word forms
| plural | all points bulletins |
|---|
Common combinations
- issue an all points bulletin
- The sheriff issued an all points bulletin for the suspect.
- put out an all points bulletin
- They put out an all points bulletin on the stolen truck.
- an all points bulletin for
- An all points bulletin was issued for the missing child.
Synonyms and how they differ
- APB
- The common abbreviation, used especially in police dramas and informal speech.
- police alert
- A more general term that can refer to any warning, not just one sent to all officers.
Commonly confused: all points bulletin or bulletin?
all points bulletin vs bulletin
A bulletin is any short news report; an all points bulletin is specifically a police alert.
Practice
What does 'all points bulletin' mean?
Choose one answer.
An all points bulletin is a police message sent to all officers in an area. It is not a general news report (that would be a 'bulletin') or a weather warning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “all points bulletin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.