third party

American  

noun

1. any party to an incident, case, quarrel, etc., who is incidentally involved.

2. (in a two-party system) a political party formed as a dissenting or independent group from members of one or both of the two prevailing major parties.

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third party British  

noun

1. a person who is involved by chance or only incidentally in a legal proceeding, agreement, or other transaction, esp one against whom a defendant claims indemnity

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adjective

1. insurance providing protection against liability caused by accidental injury or death of other persons or damage to their property

   third-party insurance

Etymology

Origin of third party

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Those third parties joined with the Boy Scouts to contribute their insurance and other assets and will be protected from future liabilities.

From The Wall Street Journal

He then sent them to third parties abroad who posted them on social media.

From The Wall Street Journal

Courts expect the client who is impacted, not a third party, to raise potential ethical issues.

From MarketWatch

“The real problem is that most organizations don’t know their own environment well enough to assess third-party risk intelligently. They can’t answer basic questions like, ‘Which third parties have access to what systems?

From The Wall Street Journal

Instead, disappointed by their attitude and apparent lack of ethics, you lost faith in handing over your fortunes to a third party.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• mediator