enforcer
Americannoun
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a person or thing that enforces.
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the member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.
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a person, especially a public official, who enforces laws, regulations, rules, or the like.
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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.
Etymology
Origin of enforcer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Taeb, a cleric, was named commander of the Basij, the IRGC's vast youth militia, which has become notorious as an enforcer of security in Iranian neighbourhoods.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Since its founding in 1999, the Club for Growth has been the primary enforcer of fiscal conservatism in Washington.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
But it’s Big Baby, a crayon-tattooed, life-size enforcer in “Toy Story 3,” that still haunts me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
SW: Some will say he did not start as many games as Mickael Guillard, who was great as well, but Meafou showed, particularly in the last round, why you need that enforcer in your pack.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
I mumble thanks for the advice, feeling like I’ve just been stripped naked by the crazed enforcer of some ancient sumptuary law: No chatting for you, girl.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
