Sheriff
['ʃerɪf] or ['ʃɛrɪf]
Definition
(noun.) the principal law-enforcement officer in a county.
Checked by Desmond--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The chief officer of a shire or county, to whom is intrusted the execution of the laws, the serving of judicial writs and processes, and the preservation of the peace.
Editor: Lucia
Definition
n. the governor of a shire: (English law) the chief officer of the crown in every county or shire his duties being chiefly ministerial rather than judicial: (Scots law) the chief magistrate and judge of the county: in the United States the office of sheriff is mainly ministerial his principal duties to maintain peace and order attend courts guard prisoners serve processes and execute judgments.—ns. Sher′iffalty Sher′iffdom Sher′iffship the office or jurisdiction of a sheriff; Sher′iff-clerk in Scotland the registrar of the sheriff's court who has charge of the records of the court; Sher′iff-dep′ute (Scot.) the sheriff proper so called since the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1748 to distinguish him from the earlier heritable Sher′iff-prin′cipal whose title is now merged in that of the Lord-lieutenant; Sher′iff-off′icer in Scotland an officer connected with the sheriff's court who is charged with arrests the serving of processes &c.; Sher′iff-sub′stitute the acting sheriff in a Scotch county or city like the sheriff-depute appointed by the crown but unlike the sheriff-depute forced to reside within his judicial district and forbidden to take other employment; Un′der-sher′iff the deputy of an English sheriff who performs the execution of writs.
Checker: Phelps
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of seeing a sheriff, denotes that you will suffer great uneasiness over the uncertain changes which loom up before you. To imagine that you are elected sheriff or feel interested in the office, denotes that you will participate in some affair which will afford you neither profit nor honor. To escape arrest, you will be able to further engage in illicit affairs. See Bailiff and Police.
Editor: Moore
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. In America the chief executive officer of a county whose most characteristic duties in some of the Western and Southern States are the catching and hanging of rogues.
Editor: Lois
Examples
- I saw my mother put up at sheriff's sale, with her seven children. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Think of those two aides-de-camp of Mr. Moses, the sheriff's-officer, who watched our lodging for a week. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Namby's the name,' said the sheriff's deputy, as Mr. Pickwick took his spectacles from under the pillow, and put them on, to read the card. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- MICAWBER, and the defendant in that cause is the prey of the sheriff having legal jurisdiction in this bailiwick. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Mr. Tulkinghorn glances through the little window at the back of Coavinses', the sheriff's officer's, where lights shine in Coavinses' windows. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- But let it be remembered that those are forced terms--Sheriff's sale prices. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- He was high sheriff, and rode in a golden coach. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- There is no more mercy in them, said another of the banditti, than in an unbribed sheriffs officer. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Checked by Gardner