posses

Sheriffs' mounted helpers

Posses is the plural of posse—a group assembled for a common purpose.

Originally a posse was a band of citizens deputized by a sheriff to pursue outlaws: Posses scoured the hills for the escaped prisoner.

Now it usually means a person's crew or entourage: He rolled up with his whole posse.

lawenforcement

sheriff

County's chief officer

deputiesAppointed subordinate representatives
manhuntSearch for a suspect
fugitiveOne fleeing authorities

pursuit · vigilantes · outlaws · marshals · bounty · capture · tracking · hunting · horseback · torches

western

cowboys

Ranch hands tending herds

outlawsFugitives from justice
sheriffCounty's chief officer
frontierEdge of settlement

saloon · horseback · lasso · revolvers · six-shooters · bandits · desperados · gunslingers · bounty hunters · wanted posters

group

crew

Working team aboard

squadSmall working group
gangOrganized criminal group
entourageAttendants accompanying someone important

clique · crew · band · followers · associates · companions · cohorts · assemblage · pack · troupe

Categories

groupsteam, teams, group, club, clubs
Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
Historical Policingconstables, sheriffs, watchmen, night watch, bobbies
Police Historyconstables, Metropolitan Police, night watch, Scotland Yard, sheriffs

Opposites

group size/composition

possesindividuals

Separate, distinct people

lone wolves · loners · hermits · soloists · lone gunmen

organized collective vs. isolated individual

possesloners

People preferring isolation

outcasts · recluses · isolates · solitaries · pariahs

pursuit/pursuit dynamics

possesfugitives

Those fleeing from law

quarries · prey · outlaws · runaways · escapees

Phrases

posse comitatusCounty's armed civil authority
Insane Clown Posse

Family

posse, repossess, dispossess, repossession, dispossession, prepossession, prepossess, repossesses

Familiarity: Top 50,000
Profile: Known to kids · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG