prosecute
Americanverb (used with object)
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prosecutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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prosecuted,
past participle, past
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prosecuting
present participle
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Law.
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to institute legal proceedings against (a person).
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to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process.
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to conduct criminal proceedings in court against.
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to follow up or carry forward something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion.
to prosecute a war.
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to carry on or practice.
verb (used without object)
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prosecutes,
present (3rd person singular)
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prosecuted,
past participle, past
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prosecuting
present participle
verb
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(tr) to bring a criminal action against (a person) for some offence
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(intr)
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to seek redress by legal proceedings
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to institute or conduct a prosecution
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(tr) to engage in or practise (a profession or trade)
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(tr) to continue to do (a task, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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prosecutabilitynoun
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reprosecuteverb (used with object)
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nonprosecutableadjective
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prosecutableadjective
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quasi-prosecutedadjective
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well-prosecutedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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prosecutesimple
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prosecutessimple
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have prosecutedperfect
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has prosecutedperfect
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am prosecutingprogressive
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are prosecutingprogressive
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is prosecutingprogressive
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have been prosecutingperfect progressive
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has been prosecutingperfect progressive
Past
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prosecutedsimple
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had prosecutedperfect
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was prosecutingprogressive
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were prosecutingprogressive
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had been prosecutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prosecute
1400–50; late Middle English prosecuten to follow up, go on with < Latin prōsecūtus, past participle of prōsequī to pursue, proceed with, equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + secū-, variant stem of sequī to follow + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To prosecute is to participate in or pursue something to completion, like a government’s intention to prosecute a war. Prosecute is most often used for bringing legal action against an accused person or group. Prosecute comes from the Latin, “prosesutus,” meaning “follow after.” The legal sense of the word first appeared in the 1570s. A district attorney will often prosecute, by bringing legal charges and action against a person or group (watch any TV legal drama, and the prosecution will no doubt prosecute eventually). A company may prosecute by suing to protect against damages. Prosecute should not be confused with the word persecute, which means to harass or oppress.
Vocabulary lists containing prosecute
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Latin Love, Vol III: seguire
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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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.
See Examples For:
Instead, Essayli’s office has maintained that he can prosecute and supervise cases as first assistant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the UN Security Council.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“There is this extraordinarily false narrative that the president wakes up in the morning and calls me and says, ‘Todd, go prosecute X or Y,’” Blanche said.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
These cases are difficult to prosecute, says Fan Binghe, the lawyer who has handled many.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Defendants who are deemed incompetent can’t be tried in adversarial criminal proceedings—meaning that the State can't prosecute them unless they become well enough to defend themselves.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
It investigates alleged crimes and prosecutes when evidentiary standards are met.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Dibble and Alan Yochelson, head of the unit that prosecutes police officers for the district attorney’s office, declined to comment outside the courtroom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
The CPS, an independent body, prosecutes criminal cases in England and Wales.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
Under the direction of the President he institutes proceedings and prosecutes cases against corporations and persons for violations of the laws of the United States, or directs the district attorneys to do so.
From Government in the United States National, State and Local by James Wilford Garner
And if support ever crosses the line into illegal conduct, it should be aggressively investigated, prosecuted and punished.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
A care company has been prosecuted and fined for running illegal children's homes in what has been called the first case of its kind.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
His attorneys have called on the government to apologize, arguing he was wrongfully prosecuted based on incomplete information.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
"The court has only seven people in custody, six of whom are being prosecuted in African situations," it added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
In one case, about six years earlier, Baird had prosecuted a twenty-one-year-old man who had been driving a small Toyota pickup through Logan Canyon, along a narrow, sometimes dangerous road.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The St. Bernard Parish district attorney’s office admitted in a 2021 statement that the office had made a mistake in prosecuting him.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
The district attorney’s office has been less aggressive in prosecuting those who made surreptitious recordings in the past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins once wrote that “we state again emphatically that we oppose prosecuting women for abortion.”
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Eric Lamb, prosecuting, said Owen had travelled at "extreme speeds" of up to 86mph.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
In some jurisdictions, if the person lacks the support of the prosecuting attorney who wrongly convicted him, compensation will be denied.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
