A phrasal verb for "body search"

[Mehrgan]

Hi there,

Would you please let me know the phrasal verb used for police body search? (When they carefully inspect a suspect's body...)

 

[emsr2d2]

Who told you there was a phrasal verb for it? Why do you need to know?

(There is one - I'm just curious as to why you're asking for it.)

 

[Mehrgan]

A friend of mine had just told me he'd been racking his brains all day to remember the verb (perhaps with the particle 'up'), which he couldn't!

 

[probus]

Who told you there was a phrasal verb for it? Why do you need to know?

(There is one - I'm just curious as to why you're asking for it.)

I am baffled by the coyness of my colleagues. He needs to know because he wants to learn English. No parts of English are secret in my opinion.

Maybe he is looking for "to cavity search"?

 

[emsr2d2]

I believe the phrasal verb he is looking for is "to pat down". It's not as thorough as a cavity search, it simply involves patting the clothed body with the hands to try to identify any prohibited or dangerous items.

In the UK, we would go from a pat down/rub down, to a strip search, to a cavity search (each one is more thorough than the last). As you can see "pat down" can be both a verb and a noun.

Probus, I don't think anyone was being coy. I was asleep! I was waiting for a response to my question determining whether or not this was homework before I gave my response.