lawsuit
Americannoun
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lawsuits
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lawsuit
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How does lawsuit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A lawsuit is the result of a disagreement that ends up in court. A long-running feud between neighbors about a flock of chickens and a barking dog might eventually end up as a lawsuit. If someone files a lawsuit against you, you become a defendant, while they are the plaintiff. Lawsuits are always part of civil law, rather than criminal cases, involving something some kind of financial or personal loss. When you're embroiled in a lawsuit, you'll probably need to hire a lawyer. This legal term dates from the 17th century.
Vocabulary lists containing lawsuit
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.
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Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s vice president of media partnerships, testified in the lawsuit that he wasn’t aware of OpenAI’s purchasing books at scale and scanning them for training purposes, according to the filing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The Associated Press swiftly filed a lawsuit and the case remains ongoing.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The contractors in Kenya work for companies that help train Meta’s artificial intelligence, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit amended in late August.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Sometimes the ghostwriting is too obvious, as when a piece carries the byline of a sympathetic plaintiff in a public-interest lawsuit but is written in the bloodless style of an appellate brief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Only one customer had complained that he believed the blanket made his heart pacemaker malfunction, but there was no injury and no lawsuit.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
There are also a similar but smaller number of lawsuits against Eli Lilly, maker of Zepbound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
In Virginia, buyers should expect the condo association to provide potential buyers with a booklet disclosing any pending lawsuits, any planned big repairs and the amount of financial reserves they have, Colgan said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
One major source of income and lawsuits has reportedly been in champagne-fueled art auctions on board major cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
The two new lawsuits — neither of which provide a valuation for the artwork in question — were filed just ahead of a deadline under the California law for claims to artwork with long-known locations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Blah-blah-blah...‘estate just north of Thirty-Eighth Street, lots of lawsuits, supports the zoo,’ blah-blah-blah...‘call the police if you know anything,’ blah-blah-blah.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
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.
