peremptory challenge

American  

[puh-remp-tuh-ree chal-inj] / pəˈrɛmp tə ri ˈtʃæl ɪndʒ /

noun

Law.

1. a formal objection to the service of a juror by a party to a criminal prosecution or a civil action that requires no showing of cause.

---

Etymology

Origin of peremptory challenge

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

To save a peremptory challenge, the prosecutor might ask the judge to remove that potential juror for expressing doubt about his ability to follow the law.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2024

The defense attorney then sought to use a peremptory challenge, which allows the exclusion of a prospective juror without any specific reason.

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2022

The Washington Supreme Court did so in 2018, saying judges don’t have to find purposeful discrimination to deny a peremptory challenge, and that challenges based on “implicit, institutional, and unconscious biases” can be rejected.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 5, 2021

Schleicher used a peremptory challenge Wednesday to remove from the panel a woman who has a nephew who’s a sheriff’s deputy in western Minnesota.

From Washington Times • Mar. 10, 2021

"Inasmuch as your countess appears to be constituted of that thin fabric of which dreams are made; inasmuch as there is no such animal—" "Hol' up!" came a peremptory challenge.

From The Winds of Chance by Beach, Rex Ellingwood