1. The chief law enforcement officer for the courts in a U.S. county.
2. An officer of a county or an administrative region in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, charged mainly with judicial duties.

[Middle English, the representative of royal authority in a shire, from Old English scīrgerēfa : scīr, shire + gerēfa, reeve.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.