posse comitatus
Americannoun
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the body of persons that a peace officer of a county is empowered to call upon for assistance in preserving the peace, making arrests, and serving writs.
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a body of persons so called into service.
noun
Etymology
Origin of posse comitatus
1620–30; < Medieval Latin: posse of the county
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.
Authorities back then could marshal a crew of civilians, called a posse comitatus, to assist them, as sometimes happened in California during the Gold Rush.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025
“The South was all for posse comitatus when it came to the Fugitive Slave Act,” said Josh Dubbert, a historian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library in Ohio.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025
Moreover, it is actually the first time on U.S. soil where the FBI and the Defense Department are collaborating on a program, which raises a whole bunch of other issues about posse comitatus.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2021
Although the posse comitatus act of 1878 generally forbids the armed forces from enforcing civil laws, the bill would allow the military to arrest dealers captured in "hot pursuit."
From Time Magazine Archive
But, continued the President, the laws can only be executed in certain prescribed methods, through the agency of courts, marshals, posse comitatus, aided, if necessary, by the militia or land and naval forces.
From Abraham Lincoln, a History — Volume 02 by Nicolay, John George
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.
