Dictionary.com
definitions

enforcer

[en-fawr-ser, -fohr-]
See more synonyms for enforcer on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that enforces.
  2. the member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.
  3. a person, especially a public official, who enforces laws, regulations, rules, or the like.
  4. Also called policeman. Ice Hockey. a physically intimidating or willingly belligerent player who is counted on to retaliate when rough tactics are used by the opposing team.

Origin of enforcer

First recorded in 1570–80; enforce + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for enforcer

soldier, guerrilla, executioner, criminal, assassin, perpetrator, enforcer, authoritarian, bully, stickler, tyrant, despot, taskmaster, clipper, killer, gun, butcher, slayer, dropper, liquidator

Examples from the Web for enforcer

Contemporary Examples of enforcer

Historical Examples of enforcer

  • Yet love of justice is strong, even in the strictest enforcer of discipline—when the enforcer is Anglo-Saxon.

  • The late Miss Clarke has well said “to argue this point would be enforcer une porte ouverte.”

  • As the system develops and our prejudices are abandoned, a method of policing must stand as an enforcer of international law.

  • Stern represser of revolt, and enforcer of the law, was Gloucester himself a defaulter in these respects?

Word Origin and History for enforcer
n.

1570s, agent noun from enforce. Meaning "intimidator" is from 1934, U.S. underworld slang.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper