nonsuit

[ non-soot ]

noun
  1. a judgment given against a plaintiff who neglects to prosecute, or who fails to show a legal cause of action or to bring sufficient evidence.

verb (used with object)
  1. to subject to a nonsuit.

Origin of nonsuit

1
1350–1400; non- + suit; replacing Middle English nounsuyt<Anglo-French nounsute

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nonsuit in a sentence

  • Plaintiffs neglecting to go to trial after an issue has been joined may be nonsuited.

  • Thus, I was a second time out of court; a second time nonsuited for want of a replication, when there was no time to file one.

  • The University has been nonsuited in their action against the booksellers for printing Clarendon in quarto.

    The Tatler, Volume 1, 1899 | George A. Aitken
  • Paul sat moodily over his wine, scarce lifting his head, and looking what he himself called nonsuited.

    Jack Hinton | Charles James Lever
  • "One is occasionally nonsuited, however," said the other, half pettishly.

    Barrington | Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for nonsuit

nonsuit

/ (nɒnˈsuːt, -ˈsjuːt) law /


noun
  1. an order of a judge dismissing a suit when the plaintiff fails to show he has a good cause of action or fails to produce any evidence

verb
  1. (tr) to order the dismissal of the suit of (a person)

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