empanel
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to enter on a list (names of persons to be summoned for jury service)
-
to select (a jury) from the names on such a list
Other Word Forms
Explanation
To empanel is to select a group of people for a jury. If you're empaneled, you're part of a jury. Congratulations. Jury duty is one of those things all adults have to do as members of a democracy — show up in court to possibly be a member of a jury in a trial. When you're added to a jury, you're empaneled. This is an old-fashioned word that comes from an older sense of panel, which was the paper on which names of jury members were written. Lots of people report for jury duty but aren't empaneled, meaning they aren't selected.
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:
He said he could see no good reason to empanel a jury.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2022
The district attorney said he has also asked the president judge to empanel an investigative grand jury “to aid the investigation of the officers’ use of deadly force.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2021
New York Attorney General Letitia James will empanel a grand jury in her investigation into the death Daniel Prude in Rochester, she announced Saturday.
From Fox News ● Sep. 5, 2020
That same year, by contrast, “they adjudicated 16,946 revocations of supervised release, and there is simply no way that the federal courts could empanel enough juries to adjudicate all those proceedings.”
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2019
According to Hickock, the “hostile atmosphere” in Garden City had made it impossible to empanel an unbiased jury, and therefore a change of venue should have been granted.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
In a new development, the panel provided emails indicating the Department of Justice had empaneled a grand jury to look into potential crimes related to the origin of COVID-19.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 4, 2024
He said that the grand jury empaneled last year will remain in place.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2024
That would allow plenty of time for a jury to be empaneled, to hear evidence, and deliver its verdict months before people start voting for president.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2024
And the newly empaneled majority clearly had the work of its predecessor in its sights.
From Slate ● May 7, 2023
No juror spoke a word during the trial, from the time when they were empaneled to the time of their discharge.
From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II by Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
States such as Texas and Virginia signed on to the Uniform Act in the 1950s or earlier, and Georgia did not create its process for empaneling a special grand jury until 1974.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 8, 2022
The first coroner’s inquest under King County’s newly revamped process to review police-caused deaths opened Tuesday morning with the empaneling of an eight-person jury and instructions from the administrator overseeing the proceedings.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
The state prosecutors did some initial digging, interviewing Mr. Cohen in prison, empaneling a grand jury to investigate and subpoenaing records from the Trump Organization and from potential witnesses.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2020
Further, although the supervisory powers of the empaneling judge are limited, grand juries depend on court subpoenas to compel the appearance of witnesses and the production of material evidence.
From Slate ● Dec. 10, 2018
The next thing in order was the empaneling of a petit jury.
From The Story of a Dark Plot or Tyranny on the Frontier by A.L.O. C.
“From the moment you were empanelled over a month ago the burden was going to be greater than most.”
From The Guardian ● Feb. 26, 2019
There is also the question of whether a jury would have to be empanelled to hear and decide Malvo’s sentencing again.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 9, 2017
Those are issues that the jury has been empanelled to decide.
From Reuters ● Aug. 2, 2012
A new jury of seven women and two men were empanelled yesterday after two jurors selected Jan. 11 applied to Judge Andrew Macrae to be discharged.
From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 12, 2011
If you do not fairly represent the community, and if you are not empanelled indifferently in that sense, you are no jury in the spirit of the constitution.
From The Wearing of the Green, or The Prosecuted Funeral Procession by Sullivan, A.M. (Alexander Martin)
The jury reached its decision after two days of deliberations in a trial that began with their empanelling on May 16.
From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 10, 2011
No empanelling of juries to inquire into theft, arson, murder, slander, and black-mail.
From The Abominations of Modern Society by Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt)
The work of empanelling a jury commenced, and when it was completed Mr. Walters, K.C., opened the case for the prosecution.
From The Hampstead Mystery by Watson, John R. (John Reay)
The matter was prolonged into September—there was difficulty in empanelling an unbiassed jury because of the moral sentiments involved.
From The Beautiful and Damned by Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott)
"Without empanelling a jury we have submitted the volume to a duly-qualified juror, and are therefore competent to pronounce it a very practical, satisfactory, and useful work."
From Notable Women Authors of the Day Biographical Sketches by Black, Helen C.
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.
