Fifth Amendment

American  

[fifth uh-mend-muhnt, fith] / ˈfɪfθ əˈmɛnd mənt, ˈfɪθ /

noun

1. an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, providing chiefly that people cannot be required to testify against themselves in a criminal case and that no person be subjected to a second trial for an offense for which they have been duly tried previously.

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Fifth Amendment British  

noun

1. an amendment to the US Constitution stating that no person may be compelled to testify against himself and that no person may be tried for a second time on a charge for which he has already been acquitted

2. to refuse to answer a question on the grounds that it might incriminate oneself

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Fifth Amendment Cultural  

1. One of the ten amendments to the United States Constitution that make up the Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment imposes restrictions on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes. It prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy and mandates due process of law.

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To “take the Fifth” is to refuse to testify because the testimony could lead to self-incrimination.

Example Sentences

"I can confirm that she will take the 5th," Maxwell's lawyer David Oscar Markus told the BBC on Sunday, referring to the right to avoid self-incrimination outlined in the Fifth Amendment of the US constitution.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026

He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena for documents and questions in a deposition in the New York lawsuit against Indyke and Kahn filed last year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025

“The court should not be ordering the government to do what it already is,” Ross said, adding that detainees “are receiving what the Fifth Amendment requires.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025

The Fifth Amendment protects against vindictive and selective prosecution.

From Salon • Oct. 10, 2025

It ought not to require argument to reject the notion that due process of law meant one thing in the Fifth Amendment and another in the Fourteenth.

From The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952 by Corwin, Edward Samuel