Pŏs'se Cŏm'i-tā'tus

. [Lat. posse, to be able, to have power, and L. Lat. comitatus, a county, from comes, comitis, a count. See COUNTY.]

1Sense 1. (Law.) The power of the county, or the citizens who may be summoned to assist an officer in suppressing a riot, or executing any legal precept which is forcibly opposed. Blackstone.

☞ The word comitatus is often omitted, and posse alone is used in the same sense.

2Sense 2. A number or crowd of people; a rabble; — often abbreviated to posse. [Colloq.]