class action

noun

1. a legal proceeding in which persons representing interests common to a large group participate as representatives of the group or class.

class action

noun

1. law a legal action undertaken by one or more people representing the interests of a large group of people with the same grievance

Other Word Forms

• class-action adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of class action¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Lawyers say the case is the largest class action in English and Welsh legal history, and could eventually involve 1.6 million car owners.

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Lawyers for the class action said the extra compensation was "validation" for the victims.

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Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has settled a class action copyright infringement lawsuit, in which authors accused the company of training its AI models on their work without permission, according to a Tuesday court filing.

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Since the breach, more than 10 women have filed class actions against the company which owns Tea.

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“The judge sits in an advisory, almost fiduciary relationship with those who stand to benefit from the class action,” Wheeler said.

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