enforcer

noun

en·forc·er | \ in-ˈfȯr-sər

How to pronounce enforcer (audio)

, en-\

Definition of enforcer

1 : one that enforces

2a : a violent criminal employed by a crime syndicate especially : hit man sense 1

b : player (as in ice hockey) known for rough play and fighting

Examples of enforcer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The European Commission, the European Union’s competition enforcer, has long been skeptical about a deal that EU officials say would damage competition. — Valentina Pop, WSJ, "Plan to Create European Train Giant May Be Derailed by Antitrust Concerns," 30 Jan. 2019 Germany’s top antitrust enforcer earlier this month ordered Facebook to stop using that data at all without permission, a ruling Facebook is appealing. — Sam Schechner, WSJ, "You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.," 22 Feb. 2019 In their zeal to limit market power, U.S. antitrust enforcers in the past inadvertently inflicted real damage on a number of American advanced technology firms, while at the same time giving foreign competitors the intellectual crown jewels. — Michael Lind, Fortune, "Commentary: Who Wins After U.S. Antitrust Regulators Attack? China.," 29 Mar. 2018 Trump has denied affairs with the women, who were not named in Tuesday’s complaint, with Cohen being the front-facing enforcer of this denial for months. — Celeste Katz, Glamour, "A Reminder That Michael Cohen's Guilty Plea Is Directly Related to Trump's Silencing of Women," 22 Aug. 2018 But enforcers are intently focused on harm to consumers, and Amazon’s retailing platform is beloved by its customers for its breadth and convenience. — Ben Brody, The Seattle Times, "Trump renews attack on Washington Post, Amazon," 23 July 2018 Expect more knotty conflicts over digital data privacy, not just among Supreme Court justices, but with lawmakers, regulators and law enforcers across the country. — Aaron Pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—How Reasonable Are Your Expectations of Privacy in the Internet Age?," 25 June 2018 One reason is that the border region is fortified with hundreds of law enforcers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, and the U.S. Coast Guard. — Jacob Soboroff, NBC News, "Despite Trump's fears, Tijuana's record violence rarely enters San Diego," 24 June 2018 Samuel Grider spent 20 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office posse, had a career in the military and stints as a private investigator and state law enforcer. — Jason Pohl, azcentral, "From missing to legally dead: The search for Sheriff's Office posse member Sam Grider," 12 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'enforcer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near enforcer

enforce the law

Statistics for enforcer

Last Updated

16 May 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for enforcer

The first known use of enforcer was in 1580

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