Meanings
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1
noun
a group of people summoned by a law officer to help keep order or pursue a suspect
The sheriff assembled a posse to search the hills before nightfall.
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2
noun
informal: a group of friends or associates who regularly spend time together
She arrived at the concert with her usual posse.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Shortened from Medieval Latin posse comitatus, literally 'the power of the county,' the body of able men a sheriff could summon to enforce the law. In modern informal English, posse broadened to any close group of friends or associates.