noun
a government police department dealing with political security
• Regions: ↑United Kingdom, ↑UK, ↑U.K., ↑Britain, ↑United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ↑Great Britain
• Hypernyms: ↑government department
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noun [noncount]
: the department of the British police force that deals with political crimes and terrorism
Officers from Special Branch are investigating the case.
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ˈSpecial Branch [Special Branch] noun uncountable + singular or plural verb (also the Special Branch singular + singular or plural verb)
the department of the British police force that deals with the defence of the country against political crimes and ↑terrorism
Culture:
The Special Branch used to be responsible for fighting terrorist groups such as the ↑IRA, but ↑MI5 took over this work in 1992. The Special Branch is now mostly involved in protecting government ministers and foreign politicians in Britain, and investigating people who break the ↑Official Secrets Act.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.