enforced; enforcing; enforces
1
: to give force to : strengthen
2
: to urge with energy
enforce arguments
4
obsolete
: to effect or gain by force
5
: to carry out effectively
enforce laws
Examples of enforce in a Sentence
Police will be enforcing the parking ban.
the duty of the police is to enforce the law
Recent Examples on the Web
But kids, teachers and administrators alike admit it was rarely enforced − until this school year, when homeroom teachers started collecting students' phones to be returned at the end of the school day.
—
The Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2024
Conversely, a federal district judge in Idaho said the state couldn’t enforce the part of its ban that applied to emergency care when a patient’s health is at risk.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
Idaho Transgender Law: The court temporarily allowed Idaho to enforce a ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors, effectively suggesting that some justices appear comfortable wading into another front in the culture wars.
—Abbie Vansickle, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Worse yet, this conduct has been brought to the attention of his supervisors, and no discipline of any kind has been enforced.
—Brittany Wallman, Miami Herald, 19 Apr. 2024
Federal court records indicate there is a consent decree in which the city will remove from all future City Council meeting agendas — and not enforce — language requiring members of the public to direct their comments to the council as a body, not an individual member of the council or the public.
—Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 19 Apr. 2024
What Johnson’s comments left out is that states already take steps to enforce bans on non-citizen voting.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration is enlisting the help of officials in 15 states to enforce consumer-protection laws covering airline travelers, a power that by law is limited to the federal government.
—David Koenig, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2024
Republicans accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws, Democrats and the Biden administration say Republicans have a policy disagreement with the White House and impeachment isn't the way to address it.
—Deirdre Walsh, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024
The Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2024
Conversely, a federal district judge in Idaho said the state couldn’t enforce the part of its ban that applied to emergency care when a patient’s health is at risk.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
Idaho Transgender Law: The court temporarily allowed Idaho to enforce a ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors, effectively suggesting that some justices appear comfortable wading into another front in the culture wars.
—Abbie Vansickle, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Worse yet, this conduct has been brought to the attention of his supervisors, and no discipline of any kind has been enforced.
—Brittany Wallman, Miami Herald, 19 Apr. 2024
Federal court records indicate there is a consent decree in which the city will remove from all future City Council meeting agendas — and not enforce — language requiring members of the public to direct their comments to the council as a body, not an individual member of the council or the public.
—Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 19 Apr. 2024
What Johnson’s comments left out is that states already take steps to enforce bans on non-citizen voting.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration is enlisting the help of officials in 15 states to enforce consumer-protection laws covering airline travelers, a power that by law is limited to the federal government.
—David Koenig, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2024
Republicans accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws, Democrats and the Biden administration say Republicans have a policy disagreement with the White House and impeachment isn't the way to address it.
—Deirdre Walsh, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'enforce.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near enforce
Cite this Entry
“Enforce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enforce. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
enforce
verb
en·force
in-ˈfō(ə)rs 
-ˈfȯ(ə)rs
1
: to bring about by force : compel
enforce obedience
2
: to carry out effectively
enforce the law
Legal Definition
enforce
transitive verb
en·force
enforced; enforcing
: to cause to take effect or to be fulfilled
enforcing the divorce decree
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation—U.S. Constitution amend. XIX
U.S. Constitution amend. XIXLove words? Need even more definitions?
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