# sheriff

Pronunciation: US say "SHER-if" /ˈʃɛɹɪf/; UK

## Noun

1. A government official, usually elected, who typically runs a county's law enforcement and its jail and sometimes serves as an officer of the court. *(US)*
   - Simple: An official, usually chosen by voters, who keeps law and order and runs the jail in a county.
   - _The sheriff announced that the county jail had reached full capacity._
   - _Sheriffs in some states also serve court papers and keep order in the courtroom._
2. An official of a shire or county, titled High Sheriff, who carries out court orders, enforces the law, and has other duties. *(British)*
   - Simple: A county official, called the High Sheriff, who carries out court orders and makes sure the law is obeyed.
   - _The county's High Sheriff welcomed the visiting judges to the town._
   - _The sheriff of the shire sent bailiffs to enforce the court's writ against the landowner's estate._
3. A judge who sits in the sheriff court, the court that serves a county or sheriffdom. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: A judge in the court of a county or district.
   - _The sheriff adjourned the trial until the defense could call its witnesses._
   - _After a brief hearing, the sheriff granted the landlord an eviction order._

## Verb

4. To carry out the duties of a sheriff in a particular area.
   - Simple: To do the job of a sheriff in a place.
   - _He sheriffed the county through two floods and a prison riot before retiring._
   - _Few deputies are ready to sheriff a county as large as this one._

## Origin

From Middle English shirreve, from Old English sċīrġerēfa, a combination of shire and reeve. It has no connection with the Arabic title of honor sharif (شَرِيف, šarīf).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sheriff (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).