marshal:
(also ‘marshall‘, rarely found in American English; plural: ‘marshals‘)
US marshals (in blue jackets) escorting a high profile suspect
an officer of the highest military rank in certain countries — field marshal, air chief marshal, air marshal, air vice marshal, etc.;
an officer of the law who carries out the orders of a court of law; a sheriff;
a chief officer of a police or fire-fighting unit;
an officer who conducts or organises parades and ceremonies in some institutions,
race course marshals assisting a racer
The rank of marshal in the Armies around the world is the highest rank, and ‘field marshal‘ and ‘provost marshal’ are the two ranks we generally are familiar with.
In the States, a marshal has more powers in more matters than an ordinary local officer.
There are marshals, in plain clothes with false names acting as normal passengers, travelling on aeroplanes, long distance trains and buses in order to keep the passengers safe from terrorists and other types of skyjackers in the air and hijackers on land.
In some countries, like in India, for instance, marshals are those officers, acting under the direct instructions and orders of Speakers or Chairpersons of legislative assemblies and parliaments, whose job is to remove or quieten the agitating or disrupting legislators during sessions.
The race course marshals are those sport enthusiasts who stand along the race course to encourage the racers and to supply water or towels to the racers or the other enthusiasts.
Note 2: ‘Marshall’, with a capital ‘M’ and double ‘ll’, is often found in the names of people, e.g. For an article that explains the origin of this word as a surname/last name/family name, please click here.
