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law enforcement

law enforcement

660 3.2
The work police do to stop crime, find criminals, and make people obey the law
  • noun
  • /lɔː ɛnˈfɔːrsmənt/
translation icon : aplicación de la ley
  • Law enforcement agencies play a crucial role in maintaining public safety and addressing crime.
  • law enforcement officer
  • law enforcement officials
  • a law enforcement agency

I'm a huge supporter of law enforcement from the bottom to the top.

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Examples

  • You embarrassed me in front of the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the country.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The process often involves the courts, law enforcement, medical providers, schools, families, and children.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Without law enforcement, we got no order.

  • Once and for all, the top men in law enforcement are united.

  • Private information will be disclosed to law enforcement authorities only as required by law.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Well, financial fraud is dealt with by law enforcement in most countries.

  • Law enforcement is very dangerous work, isn't it?

  • The evolution in terrorist financing is particularly challenging for law enforcement and intelligence to follow.

    Academic text (2008)
  • For all its influence in American law enforcement, the FBI was a comparatively small organization.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Critics also question the wisdom of allowing law enforcement to demand an organization's records without judicial oversight.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

enforcement
vslaw enforcement
912 3.9

Making people obey a law or rule

is the broader activity that also prevents crime and investigates wrongdoing
police work
vslaw enforcement
66 3.0

Police investigate crimes and enforce the law

is broader covering all activities that make people follow rules and prevent crime

Antonyms

79 6.5

A situation with no government and much disorder

22 6.5

People do not follow laws and order breaks down

How Active

crackdown
  • Literature
73 5.6
law enforcement
660 3.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

law + enforcement

The meaning 'the activity of ensuring that people obey the law' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'law' (rules/statutes) with 'enforcement' (the process of ensuring adherence). This noun-noun composition follows a common and regular semantic pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun law enforcement comes from the simple idea of the words law and enforcement, meaning putting force behind rules. Imagine town guards using their power to make people follow the rules; that picture explains why law enforcement means 'making people obey the law' today.