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definitions

lawsuit

[law-soot]
See more synonyms for lawsuit on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a case in a court of law involving a claim, complaint, etc., by one party against another; suit at law.

Origin of lawsuit

First recorded in 1615–25; law1 + suit
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for lawsuit

litigation, claim, bill, prosecution, argument, accusation, trial, suit, action, indictment, dispute, impeachment, proceedings, arraignment, cause, contest, presentment, assumpsit, replevin

Examples from the Web for lawsuit

Contemporary Examples of lawsuit

Historical Examples of lawsuit

  • He used to boast that he had a lawsuit for every letter in the alphabet.

  • For, if poor, they will think a bird in the hand worth two in the bush of a lawsuit.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Was the paper you lost something to do with the Sterzer-Gordon lawsuit?

    The Depot Master

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • It frightens me—raising my old nightmare of a lawsuit about the legitimacy of my child.

  • Then Mr. Mildmay, who is so very quiet, said that there would be a lawsuit.

    Is He Popenjoy?

    Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for lawsuit

lawsuit

noun
  1. a proceeding in a court of law brought by one party against another, esp a civil action
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for lawsuit
n.

1620s, from law + suit (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper