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.
Since its founding in 1999, the Club for Growth has been the primary enforcer of fiscal conservatism in Washington.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Xue puts the blame for children’s behavior squarely on the parents but said he takes no pleasure in playing enforcer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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
Most recently, the Chinese leader’s purge has even swallowed the network of the man who once ran it: Wang Qishan, the enforcer Xi trusted to hunt “tigers”—Beijing’s term for high-ranking officials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
He stands there like an enforcer, his arms crossed and his stance wide.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
