From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsheriffsher‧iff /ˈʃerɪf/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 SCPan elected law officer of a county in the US2 (also High Sheriff)PGO the representative of the king or queen in a county of England and Wales, who has mostly ceremonial duties3 SCLthe most important judge in a district or county in Scotland
Examples from the Corpus
sheriff• The recorder, prosecutor and coroner are Republicans, while the auditor, treasurer and sheriff are Democrats.• He was elected sheriff for Kent in 1679 and knighted in the same year.• The property tax the county collects from city residents supplies millions of dollars for sheriff deputies that patrol in the foothills.• He was still in his hospital bed when Daley visited him and asked him to run for sheriff.• Francis Auld didn't appear at the town's sheriff court today, and his case was continued without plea.• Dissatisfied parents are given a right of appeal to a specially constituted appeal committee and from there to the sheriff.• The sheriff demanded to know how the solicitor had got hold of a confidential social inquiry report.• The sheriff had pictures of Benny.Origin sheriff Old English scirgerefa, from scir “area with its own government” + gerefa “person in charge of an area” 