warrant officer

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warrant officer (plural warrant officers)

2. (military) An officer holding rank by virtue of a warrant rather than a commission.

   Alternative form: WO (initialism)

   Hypernyms: officer < person

   Hyponyms: CWO, MWO

   Coordinate terms: PO, petty officer, CPO, chief petty officer, NCO, non-commissioned officer, commissioned officer, general officer, general, flag officer, field officer, staff officer

3. (law enforcement) An officer assigned to execute warrants and other writs.

   Synonyms: pursuivant (historical), bailiff, beadle

   Hypernyms: officer < person

   Coordinate term: catchpoll (arresting for debt)

   • 1973, Paul Rock, Making People Pay, page 162:

     The bailiff does not like to see himself as the brutal oppressor of the poor or as the agent of malicious creditors... This distinction between warrant officer and process server is not at all dissimilar to the gulf that divides the law officer and the peace officer in the police force... Warrant officers execute warrants whilst process servers distribute court summonses and cajole debtors.

In military services still employing warrant officers, they rank below the commissioned officers but above the NCOs.

• (military officer): company sergeant major, CSM, regimental sergeant major, RSM
• (law enforcement): process server