stop-and-search adjective 1noun 1forms 2 adjective1 •Of or pertaining to laws or policing practices, found in some jurisdictions, which permit a law enforcement officer to temporarily detain and search a member of the public based on the officer's suspicions.Adding to the department's problems is a long-running controversy over a stop-and-search policy that includes random searches of young black men. — 1990 noun1 •A police action of this type.Read literally, he simply ruled that a cop made a bad collar, a stop-and-search without "reasonable suspicion." — 1996 formsstop-and-searches · stops-and-searches
