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Glite Dictionary
Drug Enforcement Agency

Drug Enforcement Agency

2 3.4
A United States agency that enforces laws about illegal drugs and arrests people who sell them
  • proper noun
  • /drʌg ɪnˈfɔrsmənt ˈeɪdʒənsi/
  • Formal
translation icon : Agencia de Control de Drogas
  • A warning has been sent out Tuesday night from the Drug Enforcement Agency.
  • DEA

Examples

  • Let us thank their Drug Enforcement Agency for their efforts to stem the flow of narcotics from South America.

  • Agent Brzowski: I'm Agent Brzowski with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • A warning has been sent out Tuesday night from the Drug Enforcement Agency.

    Blog text (12)

  • I'm with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

    Better Living Through Chemistry (2014)

  • Being an officer of the Drug Enforcement Agency, I am authorized by law to conduct certain... procedures.

    Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

  • Former heads of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency have recently urged the attorney general to make a public statement about the disconnect between the latest state initiatives and federal law.

    Blog text (25)

  • The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has also assumed a growing role in the U.S. government's counterterrorism efforts.

    Academic text (2008)

  • During this decade of wide-open drug dealing, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Islamabad failed to instigate major seizures or arrests.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The initiative is led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and is geared to remove unwanted prescription pills from homes to decrease addiction.

Synonyms

DEA
vsDrug Enforcement Agency
  • US
120 3.9

A United States federal agency that fights illegal drug trade and enforces drug laws

is focused on enforcing laws and regulations rather than targeting trafficking operations
Drug Enforcement Administration
vsDrug Enforcement Agency
6 4.0

A United States government agency that enforces laws about illegal drugs

is the alternative official name used for the same organization

Surface Forms

Drug Enforcement Agency main
DEA main

Morphology

drug + enforcement + agency

The meaning 'an organization that enforces laws about drugs' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'drug' (narcotics), 'enforcement' (ensuring compliance), and 'agency' (an organization). This is a literal noun phrase following common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will understand the MWE even if they do not know the specific U.S. institutional status.

Etymology

The name Drug Enforcement Agency is literal: it is an agency whose job is to enforce laws about drugs. Imagine officers searching, making arrests and closing illegal labs; that clear image explains why the name refers to the U.S. government body that 'stops' illegal drug activity.