meaning of "put the word out on smbd."

[Lost_Soul]

Hi,

I'm pretty confused and cannot understand the following excerpt, namely the part in bold

[Lost_Soul]

I'm sorry to disturb you, but could you answer the question, please?
I so much need the answer

[Yankee]

Hi Alex

Without further context, I'd guess that Dorothy might work at a police station or possibly at a taxi company. She works from roughly 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. (the night shift). She works in an office and her job involves contacting fellow employees (who work outside the office) and giving them information about where they should go or what they are to do. In other words, she might contact the officers in police car number 54 in order to inform them that there has been an accident at 5th and Main Streets and to tell them that they should go to the scene (to investigate, help, or whatever). Or she might contact the driver of taxi number 54 in order to tell him where to go to pick up his next customer.

"Put out the word on somebody" basically means to "make a particular bit of information about somebody more widely known". A dispatcher could easily do this in the course of his/her dispatch activities.
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_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Amy

She actually works at a police station :)

Thank you, everything about that excerpt has become clear now !