/ kɔːt; NAmE kɔːrt/ noun , verb
■ noun
LAW
1.
[ C , U ] the place where legal trials take place and where crimes, etc. are judged :
the civil / criminal courts
Her lawyer made a statement outside the court.
She will appear in court tomorrow.
They took their landlord to court for breaking the contract.
The case took five years to come to court (= to be heard by the court) .
There wasn't enough evidence to bring the case to court (= start a trial) .
He won the court case and was awarded damages.
She can't pay her tax and is facing court action .
The case was settled out of court (= a decision was reached without a trial) .
—see also courthouse , courtroom ➡ note at school
2.
the court [ sing. ] the people in a court, especially those who make the decisions, such as the judge and jury :
Please tell the court what happened.
—see also contempt of court , county court , Crown Court , High Court , juvenile court , Supreme Court
FOR SPORT
3.
[ C ] a place where games such as tennis are played :
a tennis / squash / badminton court
He won after only 52 minutes on court .
—picture at basketball
—see also clay court , grass court
KINGS / QUEENS
4.
[ C , U ] the official place where kings and queens live :
the court of Queen Victoria
5.
the court [ sing. ] the king or queen, their family, and the people who work for them and/or give advice to them
BUILDINGS
6.
[ C ] = courtyard
7.
( abbr. Ct ) [ C ] used in the names of blocks of flats or apartment buildings, or of some short streets; (in Britain) used in the name of some large houses
8.
[ C ] a large open section of a building, often with a glass roof :
the food court at the shopping mall
•
IDIOMS
- hold court (with sb)
- rule / throw sth out of court
—more at ball noun , laugh verb , pay verb
■ verb
TRY TO PLEASE
1.
[ vn ] to try to please sb in order to get sth you want, especially the support of a person, an organization, etc.
SYN cultivate :
Both candidates have spent the last month courting the media.
TRY TO GET
2.
[ vn ] ( formal ) to try to obtain sth :
He has never courted popularity.
INVITE STH BAD
3.
[ vn ] ( formal ) to do sth that might result in sth unpleasant happening :
to court danger / death / disaster
As a politician he has often courted controversy.
HAVE RELATIONSHIP
4.
[ vn ] ( old-fashioned ) if a man courts a woman, he spends time with her and tries to make her love him, so that they can get married
5.
[ v ] be courting ( old-fashioned ) ( of a man and a woman ) to have a romantic relationship before getting married :
At that time they had been courting for several years.
—see also courtship
••
WHICH WORD
court / law court / court of law
All these words can be used to refer to a place where legal trials take place. Court and ( formal ) court of law usually refer to the actual room where cases are judged. Courtroom is also used for this. Law court ( BrE ) is more often used to refer to the building:
The prison is opposite the law court.
Courthouse is used for this in NAmE .
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French cort , from Latin cohors , cohort- yard or retinue. The verb is influenced by Old Italian corteare , Old French courtoyer . Compare with cohort .