open verdict

British

noun

a finding by a coroner's jury of death without stating the cause

"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

Example Sentences

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Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded an open verdict at an inquest into the deaths at Chelmsford Coroner's Court in 2014, adding: "Not all of the pieces of the jigsaw are there yet."

From BBC • May 21, 2025

On 17 February 1977, a jury inquest in Haverfordwest returned verdicts of unlawful killing for Patti Thomas, and an open verdict on Griff.

From BBC • Sep. 4, 2024

Instructing the jury last month, the coroner told them there were five verdicts open - accidental death, death by misadventure, unlawful killing, an open verdict or a narrative verdict.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2024

An inquest, which did not have details of either the relationship or the pregnancy, returned an open verdict but her family claim both had contributed to her death.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2022

The inquiry resulted eventually in an open verdict, and was chiefly instrumental in killing such compassion as is usually felt for the dead who die in their sins.

From Raffles, Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023