enforcer

From enforce + -er.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɔːsə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)sə(ɹ)

enforcer (plural enforcers)

1. One who enforces.
2. A hired strongman, especially working for the underworld.
   • 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117:

     At 199 centimetres and a hundred kilos going up, he was scary big and he found work as a bouncer and enforcer[.]

3. The member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.
4. (UK) A battering ram used by the emergency services for gaining access to locked premises.
6. (ice hockey, rugby, Australian rules football) A player who physically intimidates or confronts the opposition.

   Synonym: policeman

• confrere, confrère, reconfer