lawman

noun

law·​man ˈlȯ-mən 

: a law-enforcement officer (such as a sheriff or marshal)

Synonyms

• bobby [British]
• bull [slang]
• constable [chiefly British]
• cop
• copper
• flatfoot [slang]
• fuzz
• gendarme
• officer
• police officer
• policeman
• shamus [slang]

Examples of lawman in a Sentence

Wyatt Earp was a famous American lawman of the Wild West.

as the rural county's chief lawman, the sheriff has to patrol a vast area with only minimal manpower

Recent Examples on the Web

When the dust settled, the lawmen had gunned down four of the Cowboys in an event that became immortalized in books and film as a symbol of the Wild West. —The Arizona Republic, 26 Oct. 2024

In exchange, the attorneys lavished the two veteran lawmen with nearly $100,000 in cash and gifts, federal prosecutors said. —Joshua Goodman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Jan. 2024

And the man responsible for it was the top lawman in the area — Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf. —Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 3 Nov. 2024

In the time this took, and despite the lawmen’s exhaustive searching, the culprit got away. —Katy Roberts, Washington Post, 29 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

lawman

noun

law·​man ˈlȯ-mən 

: a law-enforcement officer (as a sheriff or marshal)