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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

6 4.6
A U.S. government agency that enforces laws about alcohol, tobacco, guns, explosives, and arson
  • proper noun
  • Formal
translation icon : Oficina de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego
  • In addition, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has recently made church bombings a top priority.
  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent
  • federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
  • U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Examples

  • The standoff includes agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, U.S. Marshals Service deputies, the Montana State Police, the local Border County Sheriff's Department, and members of the Huddleston town police.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Banish sat behind the bound reports and files stacked on his desk and watched the two casually suited agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms seated across from him.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Jerry Singer, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that is investigating the bombings, reported: "At this time we are treating (the Danville bombing) as an isolated incident."

    Academic text (1998)

  • The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms regulates alcoholic beverages.

  • Committee members will examine the initial raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

  • The FBI has joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in the investigation.

Synonyms

ATF
vsBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
  • US
69 5.5

A United States government agency that enforces laws on alcohol, tobacco, guns, explosives, and arson

is the full formal name for the same agency rather than the short form

Surface Forms

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms main

Morphology

bureau + of + Alcohol, + Tobacco, + and + firearm

The name is compositionally transparent: 'bureau' = an official agency and the following nouns list the domains (alcohol, tobacco, firearms) it concerns, so a learner who knows the constituent words will infer it is an agency dealing with those items. Although it is a specific U.S. federal agency and finer details (e.g. enforcement scope) require world knowledge, the core meaning is directly derivable from the parts and follows a common 'agency of X' pattern across languages.

Etymology

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is a plain name that lists what the office deals with: alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. So the name means a U.S. government office that 'enforces laws' and investigates crimes about those items.