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: an important official of a shire or county charged primarily with judicial duties (such as executing the processes and orders of courts and judges)
Examples of sheriff in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The sheriff's office has not yet determined whether there was any history of domestic violence calls from the home.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 18 Jan. 2025
Several of her lobbying clients included sheriffs associations, including the Florida Sheriff's Association, the Florida Sheriff's Risk Management Fund and Major County Sheriffs of America, as well as Aiden Torch Financial, Safety Net DC, and iGas USA.
—Soo Rin Kim, ABC News, 17 Jan. 2025
The sheriff confirmed Litton also went in June to an Adventist school in Chico under the pretense of enrolling a child.
—Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 17 Jan. 2025
The authorities served a search warrant at Mr. Bell’s home on Wednesday morning and found more child pornography videos, including some generated using artificial intelligence, the sheriff’s office said.
—Sara Ruberg, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Sheriff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sheriff. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
Kids Definition
sheriff
noun
sher·iff
ˈsher-əf
: an official of a county who is in charge of enforcing the law
Etymology
Middle English shirreve "sheriff," from Old English scīrgerēfa "sheriff," from scīr "shire, county" and gerēfa "a government agent"
Legal Definition
sheriff
noun
sher·iff
: an official of a county or parish charged primarily with judicial duties (as executing the processes and orders of courts and judges)
Etymology
Old English scīrgerēfa, from scīr shire + gerēfa reeve (king's agent)
More from Merriam-Webster on sheriff
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sheriff
Nglish: Translation of sheriff for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sheriff
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