court

court1 [ kɔrt ] noun ***

▸ 1 for cases/trials

▸ 2 area for sport

▸ 3 (place for) king/queen

▸ 4 in name of buildings

▸ 5 courtyard

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) count or uncount a place where trials take place and legal cases are decided, especially in front of a judge and a JURY: COURT OF LAW, LAW COURT:

in court: The charges were read aloud in court.

appear in court: Duggan will appear in court on Monday.

a ) the court singular the people in a court, especially the judge and JURY:

A police officer told the court that he had seen Brown leaving the house.

the evidence before the court (=being considered by the court)

b ) only before noun done by a court or relating to a court:

They are dropping their court case against him.

She got a court injunction banning her husband from her home.

c ) the courts plural the system of courts that decide legal cases:

You can always try to get your money back through the courts.

The courts ruled that the company are entitled to make a fair profit.

d ) uncount used for referring to the process of taking a legal action against someone:

go to court (=begin a court case): She threatened to go to court if he did not pay up.

take someone to court (=begin a case against someone): Lynn took her employers to court for compensation.

come to court (=start to be discussed in court): It took five years for the case to come to court.

settle out of court (=agree to pay someone in order to avoid a court case): Mr. Lodge settled out of court for $50,000.

=> COURT OF APPEALS

2. ) count an area marked with lines where some sports are played, such as tennis and basketball:

tennis/basketball/badminton court: The hotel has two tennis courts.

on court: The players had been on court for over two hours.

3. ) count or uncount the place where a king or queen lives and works

a ) the court singular a king or queen, together with their family and their servants, advisers, etc.:

an influential member of the court of Henry VIII

4. ) Court used in the names of streets or apartment buildings:

They live at 27 Mallory Court.

5. ) count a COURTYARD

hold court HUMOROUS

to talk to a group of people who are all paying you a lot of attention because you are interesting, funny, or important

pay court to someone VERY FORMAL

to give someone a lot of attention in order to impress them or make them like you

court

court 2 [ kɔrt ] verb

1. ) transitive to try to impress or please someone because you want them to help you in some way:

politicians courting middle-class voters

Suddenly, she's being courted by newspapers and television reporters every night.

2. ) transitive to make special efforts to get something that will benefit you:

For years they had been courting influence in Britain's major companies.

court publicity/popularity: He courted publicity and then complained about his loss of privacy.

3. ) transitive to behave in a way that is likely to bring a bad result:

court disaster/danger/scandal: To ignore her advice would be courting disaster.

4. ) intransitive or transitive OLD-FASHIONED to have a romantic relationship with someone, especially someone that you get married to later