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

See Examples For:

Fifth Amendment

The good doctor exercised his Fifth Amendment rights in response to most questions, correctly pointing out that Paul has an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

He also emphasized that invoking the Fifth Amendment was a protected right that must be "respected."

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer,” Fauci repeatedly said, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

He invoked the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, which says no individual can be "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself".

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

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 Edward Samuel Corwin