sheriff

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sher·iff

(shĕr′ĭf)

1. A public officer in the United States with responsibility for certain law enforcement and administrative legal duties, such as making arrests and serving processes, usually for a particular county.

2. A public officer in various other countries performing certain law enforcement, judicial, or ceremonial functions.

[Middle English, the representative of royal authority in a shire, from Old English scīrgerēfa : scīr, shire + gerēfa, reeve.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sheriff

(ˈʃɛrɪf)

1. (Law) (in the US) the chief law-enforcement officer in a county: popularly elected, except in Rhode Island

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in England and Wales) the chief executive officer of the Crown in a county, having chiefly ceremonial duties.

3. (Professions) (in Scotland) a judge in any of the sheriff courts

4. (Law) (in Scotland) a judge in any of the sheriff courts

5. (Professions) (in Australia) an administrative officer of the Supreme Court, who enforces judgments and the execution of writs, empanels juries, etc

6. (Law) (in Australia) an administrative officer of the Supreme Court, who enforces judgments and the execution of writs, empanels juries, etc

7. (Professions) (in New Zealand) an officer of the High Court

8. (Law) (in New Zealand) an officer of the High Court

[Old English scīrgerēfa, from scīr shire¹ + gerēfa reeve¹]

ˈsheriffdom n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sher•iff

(ˈʃɛr ɪf)

n.

1. the law-enforcement officer of a county or other civil subdivision of a state.

2. (formerly) an important civil officer in an English shire.

[before 1050; Old English scīrgerēfa. See shire, reeve¹]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

sheriff - the principal law-enforcement officer in a county

law officer, lawman, peace officer - an officer of the law

sheriff

noun

Related words
adjective shrieval

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

الشَّريف

šerif

sherif

Sheriff

alguacil sheriff

shérif

seriff

lögreglustjóri

giudice sceriffo

šerifas

šerifs

sheriff

šerif

şerif

县级行政司法长官州长郡治安官

sheriff

[ˈʃerɪf]

A. N (in US) → alguacil m, sheriff m; (in England) → gobernador m civil; (in Scotland) → juez mf

B. CPD sheriff court N (Scot) → tribunal m de distrito

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sheriff

[ˈʃɛrɪf] n → shérif m

sheriff

n → Sheriff m; (Scot) → Friedensrichter(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sheriff

[ˈʃɛrɪf] n → sceriffo

sheriff

(ˈʃerif) noun

in the United States, the chief law officer of a county, concerned with maintaining peace and order.

References in classic literature ?

These forests were guarded by the King's Foresters, the chief of whom, in each wood, was no mean man but equal in authority to the Sheriff in his walled town, or even to my lord Bishop in his abbey.

Rob's father had two other enemies besides Fitzwalter, in the persons of the lean Sheriff of Nottingham and the fat Bishop of Hereford.

The Fair is on at Nottingham, and the Sheriff proclaims an archer's tournament.

View in context

Such was the aspect under which the place presented itself to Sheriff Adams and two other men who had come out from Marshall to look at it.

Carelessly opening the front door, which to his surprise was not locked, the sheriff was amazed to see, lying on the floor of the passage into which it opened, a confused heap of men's apparel.

The sheriff grasped one of the outthrown arms; it was as rigid as iron, and the application of a gentle force rocked the entire body without altering the relation of its parts.

View in context

Now it was told before how two hundred pounds were set upon Robin Hood's head, and how the Sheriff of Nottingham swore that he himself would seize Robin, both because he would fain have the two hundred pounds and because the slain man was a kinsman of his own.

Then one of his men who was near him said, "Good master, thou wottest not the force that Robin Hood has about him and how little he cares for warrant of king or sheriff. Truly, no one likes to go on this service, for fear of cracked crowns and broken bones."

"Then I hold all Nottingham men to be cowards," said the Sheriff. "And let me see the man in all Nottinghamshire that dare disobey the warrant of our sovereign lord King Harry, for, by the shrine of Saint Edmund, I will hang him forty cubits high!

View in context

The door was unfastened, and Richard entered, with the freedom that characterized not only the intercourse between the cousins, but the ordinary manners of the sheriff.

The sheriff took the letter, but without turning his eyes on the writing, for he was examining the appearance of the other with astonishment.

So much of the epistle as was divulged in that manner, we shall lay before the reader, accompanied by the passing remarks of the sheriff: