nonsuit
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.
to subject to a nonsuit.
Origin of nonsuit
1Dictionary.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.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed. | S. A. ReillyThus, 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.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. I of 2) | Thomas Hart BentonThe University has been nonsuited in their action against the booksellers for printing Clarendon in quarto.
The Tatler, Volume 1, 1899 | George A. AitkenPaul 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
/ (nɒnˈsuːt, -ˈsjuːt) law /
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
(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
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