lawsuit
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a formal disagreement that people take to a court of law so a judge can decide who is right.
n.a case in civil law where one or more parties bring a dispute before a court for resolution.
Simple“The company faced a massive lawsuit after their product caused several injuries.”
In context“The environmental group filed a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer, alleging that toxic runoff had contaminated the local water supply for decades.”
UsageCommonly used with the verbs 'file', 'bring', or 'win'.
Synonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
v.to start a legal case against someone.
v.to initiate or pursue a legal claim against a person or entity in a court of law.
Simple“In the old story, the merchant threatened to lawsuit his rival over the broken contract.”
In context“The historical documents reveal an era where individuals would frequently lawsuit one another over minor property boundary disputes.”
UsageThis verb form is extremely rare in modern English; 'to sue' is the standard equivalent.
Teacher's tipWhile historically recorded as a verb, modern speakers exclusively use 'sue' for the action and 'lawsuit' for the noun.
Synonymssuelitigate
Usage lawsuit filed
“The claimants' lawsuit alleges Wondermind failed to meet "even its most basic obligations, such as timely paying its employees and vendors".”
“ExxonMobil has described the lawsuits against it as “meritless” .”
From law + suit.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.