court meaning

• Noun: court  kort
  1. An assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
     - tribunal, judicature 
  2. A room in which a lawcourt sits
     - courtroom 
  3. The sovereign and his advisers who are the governing power of a state
     - royal court 
  4. A specially marked horizontal area within which a game is played
     "players had to reserve a court in advance" 
  5. The family and retinue of a sovereign or prince
     - royal court 
  6. A hotel for motorists; provides direct access from rooms to parking area
     - motor hotel, motor inn, motor lodge, tourist court 
  7. A tribunal that is presided over by a magistrate or by one or more judges who administer justice according to the laws
     - lawcourt, court of law, court of justice 
  8. The residence of a sovereign or nobleman
     "the king will visit the duke's court" 
  9. An area wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings
     "the house was built around an inner court"
     - courtyard 
  10. Respectful deference
      "pay court to the emperor"
      - homage
  Verb: court  kort
  1. Make amorous advances towards
     "John is courting Mary"
     - woo, romance, solicit 
  2. Seek someone's favour
     - woo 
  3. Engage in social activities leading to marriage
     "We were courting for over ten years"
  Noun: Court
  1. Australian woman tennis player who won many major championships (born in 1947)
     - Margaret Court

  Sounds like: caught, quart

  Derived forms: courted, courting, courts

  See also: courting, courtly

  Type of: act, area, assembly, athletic field, authorities, cortège, deference, entourage, field, government, hotel, move, playing area, playing field, regime, residence, respect, retinue, room, suite, tennis player

  Part of: building, courthouse, edifice

  Encyclopedia: Court Court, Switzerland

• 
  [Architecture]
  1.

  An open, uncovered, and unoccupied space partially or fully surrounded by walls or buildings.

  2.

  A courtroom.

  3.

  Residence of a dignitary or member of royalty and its enclosed grounds.

• 
  [Business]
  AmE / noun, verb

  ■ noun

  HIGH COURT, LABOUR COURT, LAW COURT, OUT-OF-COURT, SUPREME COURT

  1 [U,C]

  the group of people, led by a judge, a group of judges or another official, who listen to legal cases and make decisions on them:

  We would have to go to court in order to stop the merger.

  They took the directors to court over the decision.

  The firm offered $20 million to settle out of court (= end the case without the court making a decision).

  He won the court case and was awarded damages.

  You will have to present the evidence before (= in) a court of law.

  The court ruled that the insurer had been negligent in selling the policy.

  ⇨ TRIBUNAL

  a court hears/orders/rules/says sth

  ◆ a court decision/ruling a court action/case/hearing/trial

  2 [C,U]

  the place where legal cases are listened to and decided:

  Her lawyer made a statement outside the court.

  The defendant failed to appear in court.

  SYN LAW COURT ⇨ COURTROOM

  3 [C]

  the group of people, led by a judge or another official, who deal with a particular type of legal case or with cases from a particular area; the place where these cases are listened to and decided:

  The sale of the company must be approved by the bankruptcy court.

  Cameras are not allowed in federal courts.

  a civil/criminal court

  ◆ a bankruptcy/commercial/divorce court

  ◆ an appeal/a constitutional court

  ◆ a county/federal/state court

  IDIOMS

  rule/throw sth out of court

  to say that sth is completely wrong or not worth considering, especially in a court:

  The charges were thrown out of court.

  Well that's my theory ruled out of court.

  ■ verb

  1

  to try to please sb in order to get sth you want, especially the support of a person, an organization, etc:

  We are courting French distributors with a view to selling our products in France.

  Lots of companies courted him with attractive offers.

  2

  (used especially in newspapers about businesses) to start discussions with a company that you are interested in buying:

  The company has denied rumours that it was being courted by IBM.

• 
  [Law]
  n. 1. A body established by law for the administration of justice by judges or magistrates.
  2. A hall or building in which a court is held.
  3. a. The residence of a sovereign. b. The sovereign and her (or his) family and attendants or officials of state.

• a kangaroo court:    [American slang]a ...
• advantage court:     noun  ( ...
• appeal court:     noun  A ...

Examples

1. he must accept any brief in the courts.
2. his case was brought up before the court.
3. players of both teams have entered the court.
4. the judge made recommendations to the court.
5. their provisions are to be judged by courts.