: an important official of a shire or county charged primarily with judicial duties (such as executing the processes and orders of courts and judges)
Examples of sheriff in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Dogs identified as pit bulls have been on the prowl at Hines Park in Wayne County, and one of them has now ended up dead, shot by a sheriff's deputy.
—
Detroit Free Press, 19 Apr. 2024
Along with an intern at the center who was still in high school, the group of college students developed a lead and sent their findings back to the sheriff's office in Arizona.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
The more recent suit says he was terminated by the sheriff's office.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
The sheriff’s office plans to use sonar detection to search Lake Michigan for more human remains, according to the news release.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2024
The sheriff’s office did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the incident.
—Greg Wehner, Fox News, 17 Apr. 2024
Do not call 911 as a test Dundy County, Nebraska, and surrounding areas were experiencing outages the sheriff's office said on Facebook.
—Riley Hoffman, ABC News, 17 Apr. 2024
He had been shot multiple times, according to the sheriff’s office.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
As of now, the sheriff’s office has not released any suspects’ names.
—Fox19, The Enquirer, 15 Apr. 2024
Detroit Free Press, 19 Apr. 2024
Along with an intern at the center who was still in high school, the group of college students developed a lead and sent their findings back to the sheriff's office in Arizona.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
The more recent suit says he was terminated by the sheriff's office.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
The sheriff’s office plans to use sonar detection to search Lake Michigan for more human remains, according to the news release.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2024
The sheriff’s office did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the incident.
—Greg Wehner, Fox News, 17 Apr. 2024
Do not call 911 as a test Dundy County, Nebraska, and surrounding areas were experiencing outages the sheriff's office said on Facebook.
—Riley Hoffman, ABC News, 17 Apr. 2024
He had been shot multiple times, according to the sheriff’s office.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
As of now, the sheriff’s office has not released any suspects’ names.
—Fox19, The Enquirer, 15 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sheriff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Sheriff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sheriff. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sheriff
noun
sher·iff
ˈsher-əf 
: an official of a county who is in charge of enforcing the law
Etymology
Middle English shirreve "sheriff," from Old English scīrgerēfa "sheriff," from scīr "shire, county" and gerēfa "a government agent"
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