Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

posse comitatus

[pos-ee kom-i-tah-tuhs, -tey-] / ˈpɒs i ˌkɒm ɪˈtɑ təs, -ˈteɪ- /
NOUN
SWAT team
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Authorities back then could marshal a crew of civilians, called a posse comitatus, to assist them, as sometimes happened in California during the Gold Rush.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

“The South was all for posse comitatus when it came to the Fugitive Slave Act,” said Josh Dubbert, a historian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library in Ohio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

Moreover, it is actually the first time on U.S. soil where the FBI and the Defense Department are collaborating on a program, which raises a whole bunch of other issues about posse comitatus.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2021

Although the posse comitatus act of 1878 generally forbids the armed forces from enforcing civil laws, the bill would allow the military to arrest dealers captured in "hot pursuit."

From Time Magazine Archive

On being asked why he did not at the outset send for the posse comitatus, he replied he did not know where the fellow lived, or else he would.

From Old and New London Volume I by Walter Thornbury




Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training