See Also: court(dictionary)
Court Of Law(law)
court(2)(dictionary)
court(1)(dictionary)
Tax court(finance)
out-of-court(dictionary)
court of law(dictionary)
law court(dictionary)
Court(law)
court(encyclopedia)

court(2) (iou)



court noun1. ME.
[Anglo-Norman curt from Old French cort (mod. cour) from Proto-Romance from Latin cohors, cohort-: see COHORT.]
I. An enclosed area.
A clear space enclosed by walls or buildings; at Cambridge University, a college quadrangle. ME.
b. A subdivision of a building open to the general roof. M19.
A large building or set of buildings standing in a courtyard; a large house, Hist. a manor house. Now only in proper names. ME.
A walled or marked-off quadrangular area for playing one of certain games involving the striking of a ball, as tennis, squash, etc.; a marked-off division of such an area. E16.
badminton court, croquet court, fives court, squash court, tennis-court, etc. clay court, grass court, hard court, etc.
A confined yard opening off a street; a yard surrounded by houses and communicating with the street by an entry. L17.
V. Woolf Jacob's rooms..were in Neville's Court.
II. A princely residence or household.
The place where a monarch etc. lives and holds state. ME.
Shakespeare As You Like It Dispatch you with your safest haste, And get you from our court. Ld Macaulay The quarters of William now began to present the appearance of a court.
b. In full court shoe. A woman's light shoe with a low-cut upper and often a high heel. L19.
The establishment and surroundings of a monarch with his or her retinue. With or without determiner (article, possess. or demonstr. adjective, etc.). ME.
N. Mitford No tiara, no necklace, what will the poor child wear at Court?
The monarch with his or her ministers and councillors as the ruling power. Treated as sing. ME.
A monarch's retinue; the body of courtiers collectively. Treated as pl. ME.
Thackeray The king and the whole court. fig.: H. Acton A life of generous affluence surrounded by a court of writers and artists.
Formal assembly of the monarch and his or her retinue. Chiefly in hold court, keep court. ME.
Dryden That sweet isle where Venus keeps her court.
Homage; flattering attention, courtship. Chiefly in pay court (to), make court (to). L16.
III. A place of law or administration.
(A session of) an assembly of judges or other persons acting as a tribunal legally appointed to hear and determine causes. Also more fully court of law, court of justice, court of judicature. ME.
A place or hall in which justice is administered. With or without determiner (article, possess. or demonstr. adjective, etc.). ME.
(A meeting of) the members or the managers of a company collectively. E16.
b. A local branch of certain friendly societies. M19.
Phrases: chancery court: see CHANCERY 2b. civil court: see CIVIL adjective. contempt of court: see CONTEMPT noun 3. Court of Appeal(s): see APPEAL noun 1. Court of Arches: see ARCH noun1 1. Court of Audience: see AUDIENCE 2. Court of Augmentations: see AUGMENTATION 1. Court of Cassation: see CASSATION noun1. Court of Chancery, court of chancery: see CHANCERY 2. Court of Claims: in which claims, spec. (US) against the government, are adjudicated. court of first instance: see INSTANCE noun. court of inquiry a tribunal appointed in the armed forces to investigate a matter and decide whether a court martial is called for. court of judicature, court of justice, court of law: see sense 11 above. court of peculiars: see PECULIAR noun. Court of Piepowders: see PIEPOWDER. court of record: see RECORD noun. Court of Request(s): see REQUEST noun. court of review: see REVIEW noun. Court of Rome the papal Curia. Court of St James's the British monarch's court. Court of Session: see SESSION noun 4b. Court of Star Chamber: see STAR noun1 & adjective. criminal court: see CRIMINAL adjective 2. customary court: see CUSTOMARY adjective 1. Divisional Court: see DIVISIONAL 2. General Court a legislative assembly, spec. that of Massachusetts or New Hampshire. go to court take legal action. High Court: see HIGH adjective. High Court of Chancery: see CHANCERY 2. High Court of Justiciary: see JUSTICIARY noun2. High Court of Parliament Parliament. higher court: see HIGHER adjective. hold court fig. preside over one's admirers etc. Inn of Court: see INN noun. in open court: see OPEN adjective. juvenile court: see JUVENILE adjective. last-court: see LAST noun3. laugh out of court: see LAUGH verb. lower court: see LOWER adjective. magistrates' court: see MAGISTRATE 3. motor court: see MOTOR noun & adjective. Orphan's Court: see ORPHAN noun 1. out of court (a) (of a plaintiff) having forfeited his or her claim to be heard; (b) (of a settlement) reached before the hearing or judgement; (c) fig. not worthy of consideration, having no claim to be considered. prevotal court: see PREVOTAL adjective. rule of court: see RULE noun. service court: see SERVICE noun1. small-claims court: see SMALL adjective. spiritual court: see SPIRITUAL adjective 2. standing rule of court: see RULE noun. suit of court: see SUIT noun 1a. superior court: see SUPERIOR adjective. Supreme Court: see SUPREME adjective 2. Supreme Court of Judicature: see JUDICATURE. the ball is in your court fig. you must be next to act. the Verge of the Court: see VERGE noun 9. ward of court: see WARD noun 15a.
Comb.: court-card [orig. coat-card: see COAT noun] a playing-card other than a joker or a tarot, bearing the representation of a human figure (king, queen, jack, etc.), typically ranking above the sequence of numerals; Court Christian: see CHRISTIAN adjective; court circular a daily report of the doings of the court issued to the press; court-craft (a) the art practised or required at court; (b) skill in the movements and positioning of a tennis player; court cupboard a 16th- or 17th-cent. sideboard for displaying plate etc., esp. one consisting of three open shelves and sometimes a small cupboard in the upper half; court-day: on which a (legal etc.) court is held or a prince holds court; court dress formal dress as worn at court; court fool = court jester below; court-hand a style of handwriting used in English courts of law until prohibited there by an act of 1731; court holy water insincere flattery; court-house (a) a building in which courts of law are held; (b) US the seat of government of a county; (c) US a building containing the main administrative offices of a county; court jester: kept to entertain a court; court leet: see LEET noun1 1; court-man a (male) courtier; court-metre = DRoTTKV?TT; court order: given by a court of law and requiring a party to do or refrain from doing a specified act; court party a political party advocating the interests of the court; court-plaster [from its former use for beauty spots by ladies at court] sticking-plaster made of silk coated with isinglass; court roll Hist. a record of a manorial court giving the holdings, rents, successions, etc., of the tenants; courtroom: in which a court of law is held; court shoe: see sense 5b above; court tennis N. Amer. real tennis; court week US: during which the county court meets; courtyard a court (sense 1 above), esp. one adjacent to a house.
courtlet noun a small or petty court M19.
courtlike adjective after the manner of the Court; courtly, elegant, polite: M16.
courtling noun (a) a young or minor courtier; (b) any courtier: L16.