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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

Posse Comitatus

American English · Video pronunciation

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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What does Posse Comitatus mean?

noun

  1. (figuratively) Any band of men, especially armed or hostile.
More meanings (1)

noun

  1. (historical) The able-bodied men over 15 in a given county who can be summoned by the sheriff to help keep the peace, or arrest a felon; also a group of men so gathered.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

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In the pages of books

See this word in context.

They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, &c.
Henry David ThoreauOn the Duty of Civil DisobedienceProject Gutenberg ebook #71
The same persons who tell us in one breath, that the powers of the federal government will be despotic and unlimited, inform us in the next, that it has not authority sufficient even to call out the POSSE COMITATUS.
Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; James MadisonThe Federalist PapersProject Gutenberg ebook #18