definitions

vigilance committee

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vigilance committee ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an unauthorized committee of citizens organized for the maintenance of order and the summary punishment of crime in the absence of regular or efficient courts.
History/Historical. (in the South) an organization of citizens using extralegal means to control or intimidate blacks and abolitionists and, during the Civil War, to suppress Union loyalists.

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RELATED WORDS

vigilantes

Nearby words

vigil, vigil light, vigil mass, vigilambulism, vigilance, vigilance committee, vigilant, vigilante, vigilantism, vigilius, vigintillion

Origin of vigilance committee

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for vigilance committee

vigilance committee

noun

(in the US) a self-appointed body of citizens organized to maintain order, punish crime, etc, where an efficient system of courts does not exist
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