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line of duty
noun phrase
: all that is authorized, required, or normally associated with some field of responsibility
Examples of line of duty in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This also entails differentiating protocol from what is unnecessarily inhibiting employees from being creative or going beyond the line of duty in ways that are beneficial to the organization.
—Federico Sendra, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Monday is Peace Officers Memorial Day, on which the nation remembers officers who fell in the line of duty.
—Ryan King, Washington Examiner, 15 May 2023
An Alabama State Trooper is recovering after he was shot in the line of duty following a Sunday-evening pursuit in south Alabama.
—Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 11 Apr. 2023
No Wisconsin officers died in the line of duty in 2022.
—Beck Andrew Salgado, Journal Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2023
Services have been finalized for two Chicago firefighters whose separate back-to-back line of duty deaths early this week rocked the city, according to the fire department.
—Rosemary Sobol, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2023
According to data from the U.S. Fire Administration, more first responders die of suicide than in the line of duty each year.
—Lacey Latch, The Arizona Republic, 8 Apr. 2023
Broward County leaders unanimously agreed Tuesday to consider a future budget item that would provide 12 months’ worth of mortgage, rent or property tax payments to the families of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
—Lisa J. Huriash, Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2023
In 2022, 64 officers across the U.S. were shot and killed in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
—Hannah Ray Lambert, Fox News, 3 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'line of duty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1918, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near line of duty
Cite this Entry
“Line of duty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/line%20of%20duty. Accessed 17 Jun. 2024.
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