FBI

American

[ef-bee-ahy] / ˈɛfˈbiˈaɪ /

noun

U.S. Government.

Federal Bureau of Investigation: the federal agency charged with investigations for the Attorney General and with safeguarding national security.

FBI British

abbreviation

Federal Bureau of Investigation; an agency of the Justice Department responsible for investigating violations of Federal laws

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

They noted that Cuba's government allowed an FBI team to visit Cuba last week to conduct an independent investigation into a deadly shooting involving a US-registered boat.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

Working with the FBI, Arlington police had finally solved the crime that summer through genetic genealogy, matching the killer’s DNA to relatives in a public database.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

Ms. Gage—whose nuanced 2022 biography of J. Edgar Hoover balanced the FBI director’s excesses against his achievements—is an accomplished historian and a capable writer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Some of the cases shut down were the result of yearslong investigations by federal agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026

Jonah remembered that lists and ghosts and the FBI weren’t all they had to worry about.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023