court

Universal Words 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). * During the court hearing, the prosecutor said she would seek maximum prison sentences. * 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). seealsoCOURTHOUSE, COURTROOM -< 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. * The court heard yesterday how the man collapsed and died after being stabbed. seealsoCONTEMPTOFCOURT, COUNTYCOURT, CROWNCOURT, HIGHCOURT, JUVENILECOURT, SUPREMECOURT 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. seealsoCLAYCOURT, GRASSCOURT kings / queens 4 [C,U] the official place where kings and queens live: the court of Queen Victoria * He was presented to the queen at court. 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 (abbreviation 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) to entertain people by telling them interesting or funny things: I met Giles holding court with some tourists in a cafe. rule / throw sth out of court to say that sth is completely wrong or not worth considering, especially in a court of law: The charges were thrown out of court. * Well that's my theory ruled out of court. moreatBALLn., LAUGHv., PAYv. 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. SYNCULTIVATE: The company is courting French distributors with a view to selling its products in France. 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: He had been courting Jane for six months. 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. seealsoCOURTSHIP ______________________________ WHICHWORD? 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 AmE. ______________________________