enforcer

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 His defiance of the court order is believed to have contributed to his 2016 election loss as Maricopa County's top law enforcer. — CBS News, "Court hears arguments in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to erase conviction pardoned by Trump," 23 Oct. 2019 King Khalid, the ruler at the time, granted the clerics and their enforcers, Al Hai’a, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, greater authority over day-to-day life. — Keija Parssinen, The New York Review of Books, "The US–Saudi Story, Through the Eyes of an Aramco ‘Brat’," 31 Jan. 2020 President Trump, with the DHS and his administration deputies as his enforcers, is just the sheriff to do it. — Peter Navarro For Cnn Business Perspectives, CNN, "Navarro: Counterfeits harm Americans and threaten national security. Trump has a plan to combat them," 31 Jan. 2020 Authorities said his enforcers were linked to as many as 30 slayings, although Edmond was never convicted in any homicides. — Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, "‘I am sorry for everybody I hurt’: ’80s D.C. drug kingpin Rayful Edmond III apologizes," 16 Oct. 2019 Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department’s top antitrust enforcer, seemed to switch his stance on AT&T Inc.’s takeover of Time Warner Inc. as Trump railed against the deal. — Washington Post, "Elizabeth Warren Wants to Spoil the Megamerger Party," 5 Dec. 2019 Under existing law, antitrust enforcers in the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have the authority to bring legal action against companies for that kind of conduct. — Wired, "Breaking Big Tech Up Isn’t the Only Approach for Antitrust," 20 Nov. 2019 Residents are unhappy that DEEP, as enforcer of federal clean-water laws, gave the city so many years to fix its overflow problems. — Christine Woodside, courant.com, "Dead fish, condoms, brown foam: Sewage has chokehold on Bridgeport’s Black Rock Harbor," 4 Oct. 2019 But if antitrust enforcers really slow down tech’s startup-acquisition machine, there may be unintended and far-reaching consequences — good for some, bad for others. — Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, "With Washington watching, will Facebook and Google keep buying startups?," 14 Aug. 2019

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

21 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Enforcer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enforcer. Accessed 24 Feb. 2020.

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