I. court 1 S1 W1 /kɔːt $ kɔːrt/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin cohors ; ⇨ ↑ cohort ]
1 . FOR DECIDING ABOUT A LEGAL CASE [uncountable and countable] the place where a trial is held, or the people there, especially the judge and the ↑ jury who examine the evidence and decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty:
It could not be proved in a court of law.
The court case lasted six weeks.
Four people will appear in court today, charged with fraud.
The court ruled that no compensation was due.
She threatened to take the magazine to court (=take legal action against them) if they didn’t publish an immediate apology.
2 . FOR PLAYING A SPORT [countable] an area made for playing games such as tennis ⇨ field , pitch
squash/tennis/basketball etc court
Can you book a squash court for tomorrow?
on court
The players are due on court in an hour.
3 . KING/QUEEN
a) [countable] the place where a king or queen lives and works:
the royal courts of Europe
b) the court the king, queen, their family, and their friends, advisers etc:
Several members of the court were under suspicion.
There was a taste in court circles for romantic verse.
Court officials denied the rumours.
4 . hold court formal to speak in an interesting, amusing, or forceful way so that people gather to listen
hold court to
Dylan was holding court upstairs to a group of fans.
5 . pay court to somebody old-fashioned to give someone a lot of attention to try and make them like you
6 . AREA NEXT TO A BUILDING [countable] a ↑ courtyard
⇨ the ball is in sb’s court at ↑ ball 1 (7), ⇨ be laughed out of court at ↑ laugh 1 (6), ⇨ ↑ food court
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a court of law
You may be asked to give evidence before a court of law.
■ court + NOUN
▪ a court case (=a problem or crime that is dealt with in a court of law)
a recent court case involving the death of a baby
▪ a court order (=an instruction that someone must do something)
A court order specified that the money must be paid back over six months.
▪ a court ruling (=an official decision)
The company appealed against the court ruling.
▪ court action (=a court case)
He was threatened with court action.
▪ court proceedings (=the processes that are part of a court case)
The court proceedings were over in a day.
■ verbs
▪ go to court (=take legal action)
The costs of going to court are very high.
▪ take somebody to court (=take legal action against someone)
She took the company to court for sex discrimination.
▪ bring somebody/something to court ( also bring somebody/something before a court )
Three teenage girls were brought before the court for robbing an elderly woman.
▪ appear in court
A man has appeared in court charged with cruelty to animals.
▪ a case comes to court/comes before the court
The case came to court 21 months later.
▪ a court hears a case
The county court will hear the case next month.
▪ settle something out of court (=reach an agreement without using a court)
The matter was finally settled out of court.
▪ a court rules/orders/holds something
The court ruled that the penalty was not excessive.
▪ a court clears/acquits somebody (=says that they are not guilty)
A US court cleared him of bribery allegations.
▪ a court convicts somebody (=says that they are guilty)
A New York court convicted her as a tax cheat.
▪ a court upholds something (=says that an earlier decision was right)
It seems likely that the court will uphold his conviction.
▪ a court quashes/overturns something (=says that an earlier decision was wrong)
A Brazilian court has quashed a 19-year jail sentence.
▪ a court adjourns a case/trial etc (=stops dealing with it for a period of time)
The court adjourned the trial until June 21st.
▪ a court dismisses/throws out something (=refuses to allow or consider something)
The court dismissed his appeal against conviction.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + court
▪ a criminal court (=for cases about crime)
Two French magistrates ruled that he should stand trial in a criminal court.
▪ a civil court (=for cases about disagreements)
Eviction proceedings take place in a civil court.
▪ a Crown Court (=a British court for cases about serious crimes)
The defendant went to the Crown Court for sentencing.
▪ a High Court (=an important court, with more power than an ordinary court)
Their convictions were upheld in the High Court.
▪ an appeals court/court of appeal (=dealing with cases in which people are not satisfied with a decision)
The appeals court rejected the defence’s argument.
▪ the Supreme Court (=the most important court in some countries or US states)
Thomas was the only African-American justice on the Supreme Court.
▪ a federal court (=a national court rather than a state court)
▪ a county court (=a local court)
▪ a magistrates’ court (=a court in each area in England and Wales that deals with less serious crimes)
▪ a kangaroo court (=an unofficial court that punishes people unfairly)
The army reportedly held kangaroo courts and executed alleged rebels.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ In a court
▪ defendant the person who is on trial for a crime
▪ the defence British English , the defense American English the lawyers who are working for the defendant
▪ the prosecution the lawyers who are trying to prove that the defendant is guilty
▪ judge the official in charge of a court who decides how criminals should be punished
▪ jury a group of people, usually 12 people, who listen to the facts and decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty
▪ witness someone who describes in a court of law what he or she knows about a crime
▪ testimony a formal statement made in a court of law about a particular situation or action
▪ verdict the decision of the jury as to whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty
II. court 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to try hard to please someone, especially because you want something from them:
His campaign team have assiduously courted the media.
2 . court danger/death etc formal to behave in a way that makes danger etc more likely:
To have admitted this would have courted political disaster.
3 . be courting old-fashioned if a man and a woman are courting, they are having a romantic relationship and may get married:
That was back in the 1960s when we were courting.
4 . old-fashioned if a man courts a woman, he spends time being nice to her because he hopes to marry her