prosecution

American  

[pros-i-kyoo-shuhn] / ˌprɒs ɪˈkju ʃən /

noun

prosecutions plural

1. Law.

   1. the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person.

   2. the body of officials by whom such proceedings are instituted and carried on.

2. the following up of something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion.

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prosecution British  

/ ˌprɒsɪˈkjuːʃən /

noun

1. the act of prosecuting or the state of being prosecuted

2. 1. the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a person

   2. the proceedings brought in the name of the Crown to put an accused on trial

3. the lawyers acting for the Crown to put the case against a person Compare defence

4. the following up or carrying on of something begun, esp with a view to its accomplishment or completion

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprosecution
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prosecutions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prosecution

First recorded in 1555–65; from Late Latin prōsecūtiōn-, stem of prōsecūtiō “follow-up”; equivalent to prosecute + -ion

Explanation

You know the lawyers who try to make the jury believe the guy on trial for stealing the bananas actually stole the bananas? That team of lawyers is known as the prosecution. The entire process of trying to convict someone of a crime is known as the prosecution, and if convicted, you may face prosecution. Any words with the root prosecute are connected to trying to prove someone’s guilt. You might often hear about "the prosecution's case" — that's their evidence. Or you might hear about a "prosecution witness" — someone who is supposed to tell jury members something that will convince them of the defendant's guilt.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prosecution prosecutions

Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Clayton led the office during high-profile matters including the prosecution of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro on narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Price said he never intended to do anything wrong and questioned the fairness of a prosecution over what he said was essentially a paperwork error.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

More generally, he added, "this withdrawal weakens the international architecture of criminal justice and heightens fears that the perpetrators of the most serious crimes will escape any prosecution".

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

The organization also noted that the criminal prosecution remains pending.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

As nearly everyone knows, Clarence Darrow, for the defense, roundly humiliated William Jennings Bryan, for the prosecution, but what most people don’t realize is that Darrow lost the case.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

In both polls, majorities of voters, including a majority of Republicans, believe there hasn’t been enough accountability connected to Epstein’s crimes and want to see more arrests and prosecutions.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

Although federal law requires the VA to publish statistics on arrests, citations, investigations and prosecutions by local agencies, the campus police website has no link to crime data.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Starmer trained as a barrister, specialising in human rights cases, and was director of public prosecutions from 2008-13 before becoming the MP for Holborn and St Pancras in north London.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Moreover, Kavanaugh accused his colleague Gorsuch of going beyond what the majority opinion held in his broader mini-treatise about overly aggressive prosecutions.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

Since then, the number of bias-motivated prosecutions has steadily gone down.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

Related Words

• government
• prosecutor