subpoena
or sub·pe·na
the usual writ for the summoning of witnesses or the submission of evidence, as records or documents, before a court or other deliberative body.
to serve with a subpoena.
Origin of subpoena
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use subpoena in a sentence
The city overwhelmingly voted to dissolve its police oversight board and put in place a new more independent system with teeth — including subpoena power and the ability to fire officers.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state has issued subpoenas as part of its ongoing investigation into the party’s ballot collection activities.
Sacramento Report: Gonzalez Isn’t Spending on the Ballot Measure You Might Think | Sara Libby | October 16, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoIt also authorizes the Department of Justice to issue subpoenas in local discrimination investigations.
North County Report: Congressional Candidates Debate Police Reform | Kayla Jimenez | October 14, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoDemocrats supported the subpoena, but they urged Congress not to create a "chilling effect" on tech to remove misinformation from their platforms and dismissed the allegations of anti-conservative bias.
The Senate Commerce Committee has voted to authorize subpoenas compelling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to testify before the panel.
Gingrich should be smart enough to know that subpoenaing judges is neither legal nor workable.
The German had swung around toward the men behind him, as though he were subpoenaing them as witnesses.
Captain Macklin | Richard Harding Davis
British Dictionary definitions for subpoena
/ (səbˈpiːnə, səˈpiːnə) /
a writ issued by a court of justice requiring a person to appear before the court at a specified time
(tr) to serve with a subpoena
Origin of subpoena
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for subpoena
[ (suh-pee-nuh) ]
An order of a court, a legislature, or a grand jury compelling a witness to be present at a trial or hearing, under penalty of fine or imprisonment. Subpoena is Latin for “under penalty.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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