Department of Homeland Security
3
3.5
- proper noun
- Formal
:
Departamento de Seguridad Nacional
- A Department of Homeland Security emergency defense operation is in progress.
- Department of Homeland Security
- US Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Homeland Security must create
Examples
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Originally part of the United States Department of Transportation, the TSA was moved to the Department of Homeland Security on March 25, 2003.
Blog text (14) -
Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away.
Blog text (16) -
Working in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security.
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Once again, a Department of Homeland Security emergency defense operation is in progress.
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Established nearly nine years ago, the Department of Homeland Security is still a relatively young agency.
Blog text (11) -
The Department of Homeland Security was created to improve the security of the U.S.
Blog text (33) -
As the rally started, a Department of Homeland Security officer went through the crowd with a dog to sniff people's belongings.
Blog text (11) -
"The President directed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security, to take steps to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and to determine whether these threats are a part of any additional terrorist plotting."
Blog text (16) -
He said the action he took to halt the deportation of some undocumented people couldn't be applied more broadly to non-criminal immigrants, but that he has instructed the Department of Homeland Security to focus its efforts on those who have committed crimes or are repeat immigration offenders.
Blog text (16) -
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for ensuring the safety of the U.S. from various threats.
Synonyms
61
3.7
A United States government department that protects the country from threats inside its borders
Surface Forms
Morphology
department + of + homeland + security
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'department' (an organizational unit) + 'homeland' (one's country) + 'security' (protection) straightforwardly yields a government unit responsible for protecting the country. Although it names a specific U.S. agency, the meaning follows directly from the constituents and parallels terms in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words would understand it.
Etymology
Department of Homeland Security was created after the attacks of September 11, 2001 when the government put many security groups together in one office so they could act as a single team. The words department (one office) and homeland (the country's home) show it is the place 'to protect the country', so the name means the government's team to keep the country safe.