Word · Frequency #20586
posse
一伙人；一群人；人群
A group or company of people, originally especially one with hostile intent; a throng or crowd.
- 1.
A group or company of people, originally especially one having hostile intent; a throng, a crowd.
一队；一团；地方武装团队；[法] 可能性
In use
The sheriff gathered a posse to track down the escaped prisoner.
A posse of volunteers helped search the woods for the missing hiker.
In Western movies, the posse often rides out to capture outlaws.
a posse of + plural noun
posse 是可数名词，a posse of 后接复数名词，表示‘一伙、一群’。现代用法不一定带有敌意。
A posse of reporters followed the actor to his car.
一群记者跟着那名演员走到他的车旁。
someone's posse
口语中常指某人常在一起的朋友群体或随行伙伴，带有轻松、诙谐的语气。
He went to the party with his usual posse.
他和他那帮常在一起的朋友去参加了聚会。
Common mistakes
They formed posse to catch the thief.They formed a posse to catch the thief.
posse 是可数名词，单数形式前需要不定冠词 a/an；中文没有冠词，学习者容易漏掉 a。写成 a posse 才符合英语单数可数名词的结构。
The police sent out several possies to search the area.The police sent out several posses to search the area.
posse 的复数形式是直接加 -s 的 posses，它不是以 y 结尾的词，不能类推成 possies。以不发音的 e 结尾的名词加 s 即可。
Connections
Collocations
- a posse of photographers
- 一群摄影师
- A posse of photographers waited outside the hotel.一群摄影师在酒店外等候。
- a posse of reporters
- 一群记者
- A posse of reporters chased the celebrity down the street.一群记者沿街追赶那位名人。
- a posse of friends
- 一帮朋友
- She arrived at the party with a posse of friends.她带着一帮朋友来到派对。
- his posse
- 他的一伙人；他的随从
- He walked in with his posse.他带着他的一伙人走了进来。
- the whole posse
- 整个队伍；所有人
- The whole posse went to the concert.整个队伍都去了音乐会。
- a posse of fans
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：posse 开头像“pos”（position 位置），一群人各就各位聚成一伙。注意发音是 /ˈpɒsi/，别读成 possess。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：日常交谈（朋友或同伴群体）、新闻报道（一群记者或围观者）、历史/法律（治安官召集的民团） 该词在表示‘一群人’时，通常语气比较轻松，多用于日常口语或新闻报道中；在历史或法律语境中则指由治安官召集的民团。整体正式程度接近中性，正式写作中也可使用。
Pronunciation & Spelling
与 posse 押韵：bossy /ˈbɒsi/、glossy /ˈɡlɒsi/（重读元音为 /ɒ/，后面是 /si/）。形似但不押韵：possible /ˈpɒsəbl/ 和 possum /ˈpɒsəm/ 以 /pɒs/ 开头，但词尾不是 /si/；positive 中的 s 读 /z/（/ˈpɒz-/）；pose 读 /pəʊz/，元音和尾音都不同。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.