Colloquial, friendly term for a police officer, often used by children or in casual speech. Abbreviation of お巡りさん.
See also: おまわりさん
A police officer was standing at the police box.
The child asked the police officer for directions.
walking in a circle (dog trick)
Refers to the dog trick where the dog walks in a circle. Often written お回り. Not a common everyday word.
Teach the dog to walk in a circle.
Archaic term from the secret language of court ladies (女房言葉). Not used in modern Japanese.
See also: 女房詞
In the secret language of court ladies, side dishes were called お回り.
police officer
Common kanji spelling for the police officer sense, though the word is usually written in kana.
Kana spelling is the most common way to write this word, especially for the police officer sense.
Used for the dog trick sense; can also appear for the police officer sense but less common.
Variant kanji for お回り; rare.
Derived from the verb 回る (まわる, 'to go around, patrol'), with the honorific prefix お. Originally referred to a patrolling officer, later generalized to any police officer. The dog trick sense comes from the same verb, describing the circular movement.