jury

¹ American  

[joor-ee] / ˈdʒʊər i /

noun

• juries
  plural

1. a group of persons sworn to render a verdict or true answer on a question or questions officially submitted to them.

2. such a group selected according to law and sworn to inquire into or determine the facts concerning a cause or an accusation submitted to them and to render a verdict to a court.

3. a group of persons chosen to adjudge prizes, awards, etc., as in a competition.

---

verb (used with object)

juried, jurying

1. to judge or evaluate by means of a jury.

   All entries will be juried by a panel of professionals.

idioms

1. the jury is (still) out, a decision, determination, or opinion has yet to be rendered.

   The jury is still out on the president's performance.

jury ² American  

[joor-ee] / ˈdʒʊər i /

adjective

Nautical.

1. makeshift or temporary, as for an emergency.

   a jury mast.

---

jury ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒʊərɪ /

noun

1. a group of, usually twelve, people sworn to deliver a true verdict according to the evidence upon a case presented in a court of law See also grand jury petit jury

2. a body of persons appointed to judge a competition and award prizes

3. informal it has not yet been decided or agreed on

---

jury ² British  

/ ˈdʒʊərɪ /

adjective

1. nautical (in combination) makeshift

   jury-rigged

---

Grammar

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• juryless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• juries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of jury¹

1250–1300; Middle English jurie, juree, < Old French juree oath, juridical inquiry, noun use of juree, feminine past participle of jurer to swear; cf. jurat

Origin of jury²

1610–20; compare jury mast (early 17th century), of obscure origin; perhaps to be identified with late Middle English i ( u ) were help, aid, aphetic form of Old French ajurie, derivative of aidier to aid, with -rie -ry

Explanation

A jury is a group that decides a contest or a court case together. If you get summoned for jury duty and get picked as one of the 12 members of the jury, you’ll help decide if someone is guilty or not. A jury is any group that makes a group decision. In the County Fair, the stakes aren't so high — just respect for your baking skills or pig-raising talents. But many juries are convened by courts to decide whether someone is innocent or guilty. In this case, the jury is sworn to act according to the law. Jury comes from the Old French word for "oath," pointing to the promise to deliver the truth that a jury swears to.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jury juries juried jurying

As for the claim that American families don’t want electric vehicles, the jury is still out about that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

A jury was sworn in early in September but the case has faced a series of delays for legal and practical reasons.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The jury found that Joby owes Aerosonic more than $48 million for misappropriating trade secrets and more than $68 million for breaking a nondisclosure agreement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The pair were honoured "for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis", the jury said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

We tried to make arguments about an interesting twist in that case: His jury had never decided that Michael Lindsey should be executed at all.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have pursued a slew of criminal cases against protesters involved in those demonstrations, though many of the cases have been dismissed, reduced to misdemeanor charges or rejected by grand juries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

These are questions that get resolved by juries every day.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

Witnesses at the blink-and-you-miss-it Oakland trial echoed much of what had already been heard this year by juries in Los Angeles, Santa Fe and Nashville.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

And the risk of so-called nuclear verdicts from juries pressures government entities to settle before cases reach court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Grand juries in Indianapolis and Toronto found this unconvincing.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

And yet, at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, this quiet film won the Platform Prize, a major juried award.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The award is selected by a panel and was announced in advance along with other juried awards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2025

“Dìdi” also won a juried award for its ensemble.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024

The company introduced a beta version of its digital registry in August at the Santa Fe Indian Market, an annual juried event.

From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2022

Once the first two crates were completed, I carried them down to the art museum for consideration in their upcoming juried biennial.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

The totality resembles a juried exhibition that still needs some jurying.

From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2015

Related Words

• board
• tribunal