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lawsuit

American  
[law-soot] / ˈlɔˌsut /

noun

  1. a case in a court of law involving a claim, complaint, etc., by one party against another; suit at law.

lawsuit British  
/ -ˌsjuːt, ˈlɔːˌsuːt /

noun

  1. a proceeding in a court of law brought by one party against another, esp a civil action

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of lawsuit

First recorded in 1615–25; law 1 + suit

Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the city of El Cajon for multiple violations of the license plate sharing prohibition.

From Los Angeles Times

NAIROBI—A Kenyan court dismissed a lawsuit by a Maasai leader who sought to demolish a Ritz-Carlton luxury safari camp, alleging it blocked a key route of the famous Serengeti migration.

From The Wall Street Journal

At least 1,800 companies have filed lawsuits seeking refunds from the government.

From The Wall Street Journal

Seventy years after her death, her family filed a lawsuit against Novartis in the state of Maryland.

From BBC

Paramount threatened to run a proxy fight to secure seats on Warner’s board and filed a lawsuit seeking to force Warner to release more information about its deal with Netflix.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.