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  • solicitor general
    solicitor general
    noun
    a law officer who maintains the rights of the state in suits affecting the public interest, next in rank to the attorney general.
  • Solicitor General
    Solicitor General
    noun
    (in Britain) the law officer of the Crown ranking next to the Attorney General (in Scotland to the Lord Advocate) and acting as his assistant

solicitor general

American  

noun

  • solicitors general
    plural
  1. a law officer who maintains the rights of the state in suits affecting the public interest, next in rank to the attorney general.

  2. the chief legal officer in some states.

  3. (initial capital letters) the law officer of the U.S. government next below the Attorney General, having charge of appeals, as to the Supreme Court.


Solicitor General British  

noun

  1. (in Britain) the law officer of the Crown ranking next to the Attorney General (in Scotland to the Lord Advocate) and acting as his assistant

  2. (in New Zealand) the government's chief lawyer: head of the Crown Law Office and prosecutor for the Crown

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of solicitor general

First recorded in 1525–35


Compare meaning

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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:

Colorado welcomes religious preschools to the funding program, Helen Norton, the state's deputy solicitor general, told the court.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

He previously was the solicitor general of Arkansas and a lawyer at Walmart.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who served as attorney general for eight years, during which time he hired Murrill as the state’s solicitor general, opposed 10 of 12 compensation claims during his tenure.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

Disney has hired prominent attorneys Beth Wilkinson, Jennifer Tatel and Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general with experience arguing before the Supreme Court.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The chief opponent of the bill was Robert Isaac Dey Gray, the young solicitor general.

From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919 by Various

Attorney General Ellie Reeves, who was Solicitor General at the time, referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal, while Digwa sought permission to challenge it as "manifestly excessive".

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, in an emergency filing with the Supreme Court, had said that "once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back."

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

Gutiérrez, 61, has assembled a high-wattage legal team including former Solicitor General Paul Clement and trial lawyer Beth Wilkinson to make the company’s case in court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court the project is already 65% complete and argued that stopping construction would interfere with security improvements at the White House.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

The justices gave little indication of which way they were leaning, though Justice Thurgood Marshall offered a clue in an exchange with Solicitor General Erwin Griswold, who was handling the government’s case.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

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