lawmen

noun

plural of lawman
as in policemen
a member of a force charged with law enforcement at the local level as the rural county's chief lawman, the sheriff has to patrol a vast area with only minimal manpower

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lawmen The moral decay of Karensville might as well be Charlottesville and the epithet-spewing McLeoud behaves too much like myriad red-state lawmen for comfort. — Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026 As the lawmen avoided the beam of light and approached the car, the suspects were able to get inside and lock the doors. — Dave Duffey, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026 That church would become a topic of scrutiny and sensationalism by regional lawmen and news outlets alike throughout much of 1912. — Lauren Nicole Henley, The Conversation, 17 Feb. 2026 Who was this irritant who had eluded the most sophisticated lawmen in the country, thanks to the triviality of his crimes? — David Grann, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025 Cinematic lawmen like Little Bill in Unforgiven and Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine—films that inspired Eddington—commanded their towns with a near iron will. — Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025 Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams as lawmen whose desert discovery leads down a path to information about the Kennedy assassination. — Rich Heldenfels, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025 Kirsh’s shock of white hair and dry, sardonic air give Olyphant refreshing distance from the upright lawmen he’s known for. — Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lawmen
  1. policemen
  2. cops
  3. officers
  4. constables
  5. sheriffs
Noun
  • People began rioting in Los Angeles’ predominantly Black Watts neighborhood after a crowd watched White policemen forcefully subdue a Black man.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 28 July 2026
  • Over the weekend, dozens of plain-clothes policemen entered the protest site and dragged Wangchuk into an ambulance.
    — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026
Definition of policemen
Noun
  • Bad cops are not being fired, and good cops who may be wrongfully accused are stuck in professional purgatory.
    — Sam Charles, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
  • On Monday, 21-year-old Javid Edwin, accompanied by a lawyer, surrendered at the 50th Precinct stationhouse and was charged with murder, manslaughter and weapon possession, cops said.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of cops
Noun
  • Footage released by Russian state media showed heavily armed law-enforcement officers, several ambulances and other emergency vehicles at the site.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The young woman was also receiving medical treatment when officers entered the room with body cameras.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of officers
Noun
  • The woman was able to flee the scene and located deputy constables.
    — Adam England, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026
  • Troopers and Beacon Falls constables responded to the home and detained Drozdowski, state police said.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 6 May 2026
Definition of constables
Noun
  • The author argues that sheriffs should not have independent authority over ballots and election procedures, and calls for the state legislature to clarify sheriff powers by amending the constitution to make sheriffs appointed rather than elected, similar to police chiefs.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Those sheriffs were featured in a recent Courier Journal investigation that found that one in six Kentucky counties has had a sheriff criminally charged or convicted since 2010.
    — Josh Wood, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Sep. 2025
Definition of sheriffs

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lawmen
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Cite this Entry

“Lawmen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lawmen. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on lawmen

Nglish: Translation of lawmen for Spanish Speakers

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