police state

noun
a nation in which the police, especially a secret police, summarily suppresses any social, economic, or political act that conflicts with governmental policy.
Origin:
1860–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
police state
 
—n
a state or country in which a repressive government maintains control through the police

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Police state is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

police state definition


A nation whose rulers maintain order and obedience by the threat of police or military force; one with a brutal, arbitrary government.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
We get a lamentable amount of authoritarian police state infrastructure and
  activity.
But, since this is a police state, police call the shots.
It is clear that he never let himself forget the presence of the police state.
Pollution and overpopulation are again the culprits that have turned the world
  into a police state.
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