police power
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of police power
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30
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.
President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1904, said it gave the US "international police power" to intervene in countries where there was "wrongdoing".
From BBC • Jan. 24, 2026
“If Tennessee wishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene, it must do so within the constraints and framework of the United States Constitution,” Judge Parker wrote in the order.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2023
“Historically, when we grant police power or discretion or advanced technologies, they tend to be used in many more situations.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2022
The approved policy does give the police power to use robots for situational awareness, such as going first into a dangerous situation so police can stay back.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 6, 2022
Emergency Legislation.—But the most striking exertions of the police power touching private contracts, as well as other private interests, within recent years have been evoked by war and economic depression.
From The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952 by Corwin, Edward Samuel
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.
