in the line of duty

prepositional phrase

As part of or while performing official duties, usually of the military or police personnel, or of government officials.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticAs part of or while performing official duties, usually of the military or police personnel, or of government officials.

    Last year 88 other U.S. policemen were killed in the line of duty.

    1965 September 10, “Helping the Widows”, in Time, retrieved 20 Mar 2018
    2 more examples

    "I'd hate to have the Inspector send in a report to headquarters, 'Constable Beresford missing in the line of duty.'"

    1922, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 35, in Man Size

    Quinn's friends repeat the mantra that Officer Galluzzo was just doing his job, the implication being that mistakes made in the line of duty should be forgiven.

    2015 December 18, Kekla Magoon, “Review of All American Boy by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 Mar 2018
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, the, line, of, duty.

Translations

Finnish palveluksessa
  • palveluksessaas part of or while performing official duties
French dans l'exercice de ses fonctions
  • dans l'exercice de ses fonctionsas part of or while performing official duties
Polish na służbie
  • na służbieas part of or while performing official duties
Russian при исполне́нии служе́бных обя́занностей
  • при исполне́нии служе́бных обя́занностей (pri ispolnénii služébnyx objázannostej)as part of or while performing official duties
Ukrainian при викона́нні службо́вих обо́в'язків
  • при викона́нні службо́вих обо́в'язків (pry vykonánni službóvyx obóvʺjazkiv)as part of or while performing official duties
Cite this entry
APA

in the line of duty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20line%20of%20duty

MLA

“in the line of duty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20line%20of%20duty. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the line of duty,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20line%20of%20duty.

Source: in the line of duty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.