"federal" in the noun sense

1. Federal, Federal soldier, Union soldier

a member of the Union Army during the American Civil War

2. Federal, Fed, federal official

any federal law-enforcement officer

"federal" in the adjective sense

1. federal

national especially in reference to the government of the United States as distinct from that of its member units

"the Federal Bureau of Investigation"

"federal courts"

"the federal highway program"

"federal property"

2. federal

of or relating to the central government of a federation

"a federal district is one set aside as the seat of the national government"

3. Union, Federal

being of or having to do with the northern United States and those loyal to the Union during the American Civil War

"Union soldiers"

"Federal forces"

"a Federal infantryman"

4. federal

characterized by or constituting a form of government in which power is divided between one central and several regional authorities

"a federal system like that of the United States"

"federal governments often evolved out of confederations"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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