prosecute
Americanverb (used with object)
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prosecutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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prosecuted,
past participle, past
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prosecuting
present participle
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Law.
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to institute legal proceedings against (a person).
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to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process.
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to conduct criminal proceedings in court against.
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to follow up or carry forward something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion.
to prosecute a war.
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to carry on or practice.
verb (used without object)
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prosecutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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prosecuted,
past participle, past
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prosecuting
present participle
verb
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(tr) to bring a criminal action against (a person) for some offence
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(intr)
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to seek redress by legal proceedings
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to institute or conduct a prosecution
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(tr) to engage in or practise (a profession or trade)
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(tr) to continue to do (a task, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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prosecutabilitynoun
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reprosecuteverb (used with object)
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nonprosecutableadjective
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prosecutableadjective
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quasi-prosecutedadjective
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well-prosecutedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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prosecutesimple
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prosecutessimple
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have prosecutedperfect
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has prosecutedperfect
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am prosecutingprogressive
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are prosecutingprogressive
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is prosecutingprogressive
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have been prosecutingperfect progressive
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has been prosecutingperfect progressive
Past
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prosecutedsimple
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had prosecutedperfect
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was prosecutingprogressive
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were prosecutingprogressive
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had been prosecutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prosecute
1400–50; late Middle English prosecuten to follow up, go on with < Latin prōsecūtus, past participle of prōsequī to pursue, proceed with, equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + secū-, variant stem of sequī to follow + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To prosecute is to participate in or pursue something to completion, like a government’s intention to prosecute a war. Prosecute is most often used for bringing legal action against an accused person or group. Prosecute comes from the Latin, “prosesutus,” meaning “follow after.” The legal sense of the word first appeared in the 1570s. A district attorney will often prosecute, by bringing legal charges and action against a person or group (watch any TV legal drama, and the prosecution will no doubt prosecute eventually). A company may prosecute by suing to protect against damages. Prosecute should not be confused with the word persecute, which means to harass or oppress.
Vocabulary lists containing prosecute
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Latin Love, Vol III: seguire
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The real question is where Mr. Putin would find the troops necessary to prosecute a direct attack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
However, it took months to gather the evidence necessary to identify and prosecute the person allegedly responsible for disseminating it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
It’s heir to the Nuremberg tribunals and special courts established to prosecute crimes from the Balkan wars, the Rwandan genocide and other conflicts of the 20th century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
In 2024, Germany said it would tighten its laws to make it easier to prosecute those helping to ferry migrants to the UK, as part of a new plan agreed between the two countries.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Despite all this, the private detectives somehow failed to secure enough evidence to prosecute any of the suspects, or perhaps the private eyes were bought off.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities and acts as a last resort when countries do not have adequate legal systems to ensure accountability.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
It investigates alleged crimes and prosecutes when evidentiary standards are met.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Dibble and Alan Yochelson, head of the unit that prosecutes police officers for the district attorney’s office, declined to comment outside the courtroom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
The CPS, an independent body, prosecutes criminal cases in England and Wales.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
The government never prosecutes matters of this kind, except in time of war.
From On Secret Service Detective-Mystery Stories Based on Real Cases Solved By Government Agents by William Nelson Taft
District Attorney Nathan Hochman launched an investigation using law-enforcement databases with records of virtually everyone the county had prosecuted since the 1960s, including juveniles whose files had been scrubbed from the probation department.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
A similar case in 2024 led to more than 150 people being prosecuted in Morocco.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
A care company has been prosecuted and fined for running illegal children's homes in what has been called the first case of its kind.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Then, four years later, Baird prosecuted another trial that provided an insight into Baird’s thinking as he considered the Shaw case.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
State law bars prosecuting people who erroneously end up on the rolls, and if the government later encourages them to vote, there’s an entrapment defense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The St. Bernard Parish district attorney’s office admitted in a 2021 statement that the office had made a mistake in prosecuting him.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
The district attorney’s office has been less aggressive in prosecuting those who made surreptitious recordings in the past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins once wrote that “we state again emphatically that we oppose prosecuting women for abortion.”
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
"I spoke with the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Tepper," he said.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
