lawsuit

UK/ˈlɔːˌs(j)uːt/US/ˈlɔˌs(j)ut/

nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,290 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: lawsuits

A lawsuit is a formal dispute between two sides taken to a court. File a lawsuit, face a lawsuit, settle the lawsuit.

It is a civil matter rather than a criminal one — the state prosecutes crimes, and private parties bring lawsuits. The word is chiefly American; British lawyers say claim or proceedings, and file a lawsuit is one of the clearest Americanisms in legal English. Most lawsuits settle before trial. Note litigation, meaning the whole activity; sue, the verb; and litigious, meaning too ready to go to law.

Definitions of lawsuit

1nounlawsuitA formal dispute between two sides taken to a court.C1
“The lawsuit ran for about six years and settled on the courtroom steps.”

lawsuit is a legal action.

Where it comes from

The word is law plus suit, where suit means a following or pursuit, from Old French sieute. The same suit sits inside pursue and suitor — somebody who follows a claim, whether in court or in courtship.

From law + suit.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Crime & Law

Practise this word

lawsuit in the wild

A plaintiff is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court.
Plaintiff
In some jurisdictions, a lawsuit is commenced by filing a summons, claim form or a complaint.
Plaintiff
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law.
Lawsuit
A lawsuit may involve resolution of disputes involving issues of private law between individuals, business entities or non-profit organizations.
Lawsuit
In a typical SLAPP, the plaintiff does not normally expect to win the lawsuit.
Strategic lawsuit against public participation

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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