petty sessions


nounEnglish Law.
  1. a court of summary jurisdiction for minor offenses that is held without a jury.

Words Nearby petty sessions

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use petty sessions in a sentence

  • On the 25th of November following the magistrates began to sit daily at petty sessions.

    Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
  • I want to find out how to cut my trees, and how to manage my farmers, and how not to make a fool of myself at petty sessions.

    A Country Gentleman and his Family | Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
  • The city sessions are held every quarter at the Guildhall, and the petty sessions daily at the same place.

  • He adjudicated in petty sessions as a magistrate, and dealt in a summary manner with capital offences, which were very numerous.

    The Book of the Bush | George Dunderdale
  • The new agent, however, is a tough customer, and in his quality of Clerk of petty sessions dabbles in legal lore.

    Ireland as It Is | Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

British Dictionary definitions for petty sessions

petty sessions

noun
  1. (functioning as singular or plural) another term for magistrates' court

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012