Court

11 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Court \Court\ (k[=o]rt), n. [OF. court, curt, cort, F. cour, LL.
     cortis, fr. L. cohors, cors, chors, gen. cohortis, cortis,
     chortis, an inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng;
     co- + a root akin to Gr. chorto`s inclosure, feeding place,
     and to E. garden, yard, orchard. See {Yard}, and cf.
     {Cohort}, {Curtain}.]


     1. An inclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in
        by the walls of a building, or by different building;
        also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded
        by houses; a blind alley.
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              The courts of the house of our God.   --Ps. cxxxv.
                                                    2.
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              And round the cool green courts there ran a row
              Of cloisters.                         --Tennyson.
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              Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other
        dignitary; a palace.
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              Attends the emperor in his royal court. --Shak.
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              This our court, infected with their manners,
              Shows like a riotous inn.             --Shak.
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     3. The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a
        sovereign or person high in authority; all the
        surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.
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              My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door
              would speak with you.                 --Shak.
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              Love rules the court, the camp, the grove. --Sir. W.
                                                    Scott.
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     4. Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as,
        to hold a court.
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              The princesses held their court within the fortress.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or
        address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners;
        civility; compliment; flattery.
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              No solace could her paramour intreat
              Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              I went to make my court to the Duke and Duchess of
              Newcastle.                            --Evelyn.
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     6. (Law)
        (a) The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is
            administered.
        (b) The persons officially assembled under authority of
            law, at the appropriate time and place, for the
            administration of justice; an official assembly,
            legally met together for the transaction of judicial
            business; a judge or judges sitting for the hearing or
            trial of causes.
        (c) A tribunal established for the administration of
            justice.
        (d) The judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel
            or jury, or both.
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                  Most heartily I do beseech the court
                  To give the judgment.             --Shak.
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     7. The session of a judicial assembly.
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     8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
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     9. A place arranged for playing the game of tennis; also, one
        of the divisions of a tennis court.
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     {Christian court}, the English ecclesiastical courts in the
        aggregate, or any one of them.
  
     {Court breeding}, education acquired at court.
  
     {Court card}. Same as {Coat card}.
  
     {Court circular}, one or more paragraphs of news respecting
        the sovereign and the royal family, together with the
        proceedings or movements of the court generally, supplied
        to the newspapers by an officer specially charged with
        such duty. [Eng.] --Edwards.
  
     {Court of claims} (Law), a court for settling claims against
        a state or government; specif., a court of the United
        States, created by act of Congress, and holding its
        sessions at Washington. It is given jurisdiction over
        claims on contracts against the government, and sometimes
        may advise the government as to its liabilities. [Webster
        1913 Suppl.]
  
     {Court day}, a day on which a court sits to administer
        justice.
  
     {Court dress}, the dress prescribed for appearance at the
        court of a sovereign.
  
     {Court fool}, a buffoon or jester, formerly kept by princes
        and nobles for their amusement.
  
     {Court guide}, a directory of the names and adresses of the
        nobility and gentry in a town.
  
     {Court hand}, the hand or manner of writing used in records
        and judicial proceedings. --Shak.
  
     {Court lands} (Eng. Law), lands kept in demesne, -- that is,
        for the use of the lord and his family.
  
     {Court marshal}, one who acts as marshal for a court.
  
     {Court party}, a party attached to the court.
  
     {Court rolls}, the records of a court. See{Roll}.
  
     {Court in banc}, or {Court in bank}, The full court sitting
        at its regular terms for the hearing of arguments upon
        questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at nisi
        prius.
  
     {Court of Arches}, {audience}, etc. See under {Arches},
        {Audience}, etc.
  
     {Court of Chancery}. See {Chancery}, n.
  
     {Court of Common pleas}. (Law) See {Common pleas}, under
        {Common}.
  
     {Court of Equity}. See under {Equity}, and {Chancery}.
  
     {Court of Inquiry} (Mil.), a court appointed to inquire into
        and report on some military matter, as the conduct of an
        officer.
  
     {Court of St. James}, the usual designation of the British
        Court; -- so called from the old palace of St. James,
        which is used for the royal receptions, levees, and
        drawing-rooms.
  
     {The court of the Lord}, the temple at Jerusalem; hence, a
        church, or Christian house of worship.
  
     {General Court}, the legislature of a State; -- so called
        from having had, in the colonial days, judicial power; as,
        the General Court of Massachusetts. [U.S.]
  
     {To pay one's court}, to seek to gain favor by attentions.
        "Alcibiades was assiduous in paying his {court} to
        Tissaphernes." --Jowett.
  
     {To put out of court}, to refuse further judicial hearing.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Court \Court\, v. i.
     1. To play the lover; to woo; as, to go courting.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Court \Court\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Courted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Courting}.]
     1. To endeavor to gain the favor of by attention or flattery;
        to try to ingratiate one's self with.
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              By one person, hovever, Portland was still
              assiduously courted.                  --Macaulay.
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     2. To endeavor to gain the affections of; to seek in
        marriage; to woo.
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              If either of you both love Katharina . . .
              Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.
                                                    --Shak.
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     3. To attempt to gain; to solicit; to seek.
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              They might almost seem to have courted the crown of
              martyrdom.                            --Prescott.
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              Guilt and misery . . . court privacy and solitude.
                                                    --De Quincey.
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     4. To invite by attractions; to allure; to attract.
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              A well-worn pathway courted us
              To one green wicket in a privet hedge. --Tennyson.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  court
       n 1: an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct
            judicial business [syn: {tribunal}, {judicature}]
       2: the sovereign and his advisers who are the governing power
          of a state [syn: {royal court}]
       3: a specially marked area within which a game is played;
          "players had to reserve a court in advance"
       4: a room in which a law court sits; "television cameras were
          admitted in the courtroom" [syn: {courtroom}]
       5: a yard wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings;
          "the house was built around an inner court" [syn: {courtyard}]
       6: the residence of a sovereign or nobleman; "the king will
          visit the duke's court"
       7: the family and retinue of a sovereign or prince [syn: {royal
          court}]
       8: a hotel for motorists; provides direct access from rooms to
          parking area [syn: {motor hotel}, {motor inn}, {motor
          lodge}, {tourist court}]
       9: Australian woman tennis player who won many major
          championships (born in 1947) [syn: {Margaret Court}]
       10: respectful deference; "pay court to the emperor" [syn: {homage}]
       v 1: make amorous advances towards; "John is courting Mary" [syn:
             {woo}, {romance}, {solicit}]
       2: seek someone's favor; "China is wooing Russia" [syn: {woo}]
       3: engage in social activities leading to marriage; "We were
          courting for over ten years"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  339 Moby Thesaurus words for "court":
     Autobahn, British Cabinet, Rasputin, Sanhedrin, Svengali,
     US Cabinet, US highway, VIP, access, act up to, address, addresses,
     advisory body, agree to anything, alley, alleyway, allure,
     amorous pursuit, angle for, approach, archery ground, arena,
     arterial, arterial highway, arterial street, artery, assembly,
     association, athletic field, attendance, attendant, attract,
     autoroute, autostrada, avenue, bad influence, badminton court, bar,
     baseball field, basketball court, beak, beau, belt highway, bench,
     bicameral legislature, bid for, big wheel, billiard parlor,
     blind alley, board, board of aldermen, body of advisers,
     body of retainers, borough council, boulevard, bowling alley,
     bowling green, brain trust, break the ice, brown-nose, bypass,
     byway, cabinet, camarilla, camino real, canvass, captivate,
     carriageway, castle, causeway, causey, chamber,
     chamber of deputies, charm, chase, chaussee, cincture,
     circumferential, city board, city council, close, cohort,
     commission, common council, conference, confine, congress,
     consultative assembly, container, coop, corduroy road, cortege,
     council, council fire, council of ministers, council of state,
     council of war, county council, county road, course,
     court of arbitration, court of justice, court of law, courthouse,
     courting, courtroom, courtyard, crescent, cricket ground,
     croquet ground, croquet lawn, cul-de-sac, cultivate, curry favor,
     curtilage, dance attendance on, dead-end street,
     deliberative assembly, delimited field, diamond, diet, dike,
     directory, dirt road, divan, dock, drive, driveway, eminence grise,
     enclave, enclosure, entourage, esquire, expressway, fairway,
     fall over, fawn upon, federal assembly, field, fish for,
     five-percenter, fold, follow, follower, following, football field,
     freeway, friend at court, gallantry, general assembly, glaciarium,
     golf course, golf links, good influence, gravel road,
     gray eminence, gridiron, ground, gym, gymnasium, heavyweight,
     hidden hand, highroad, highway, highways and byways,
     house of assembly, ice rink, infield, influence, influence peddler,
     influencer, ingroup, interstate highway, judgment, judicatory,
     judicature, judicial process, judiciary, junta, jury box, justice,
     key, kingmaker, kitchen cabinet, lane, law court, lay siege to,
     legal tribunal, legislative assembly, legislative body,
     legislative chamber, legislature, links, list, lobby, lobbyist,
     local road, look for, lords of creation, lower chamber,
     lower house, magistrate, main drag, main road, make advances,
     make court to, make suit to, make up to, man of influence,
     manipulator, mansion, mews, motorway, national assembly,
     open sesame, outfield, oval, palace, palais, palatial residence,
     palazzo, pale, paling, parasite, parish council, park, parkway,
     parliament, pave, paved road, pay addresses to, pay attention to,
     pay court to, pen, pike, place, plank road, play up to, playground,
     playing field, playroom, polish the apple, polo ground, pool hall,
     poolroom, pop the question, powers that be, pressure group,
     primary highway, private road, privy council,
     provincial legislature, provincial parliament, pursue,
     putting green, quad, quadrangle, racecourse, racket court,
     representative town meeting, retinue, right-of-way, ring road,
     rink, road, roadbed, roadway, rout, route nationale, row,
     royal road, run after, satellite, secondary road, seek, serenade,
     shine up to, sinister influence, skating rink, soccer field,
     solicit, soviet, spark, special interests, special-interest group,
     speedway, square, squash court, squire, staff, state assembly,
     state highway, state legislature, street, stretch, suck up to, sue,
     sue for, suing, suit, suite, superhighway, swain, sweetheart,
     syndicate, synod, tennis court, terrace, the Establishment,
     the courts, theater, thoroughfare, through street, thruway, toft,
     toll road, tower, town hall, town house, town meeting,
     township road, track, train, tribunal, turf, turnpike,
     unicameral legislature, upper chamber, upper house,
     very important person, villa, wheeler-dealer, wire-puller,
     witness box, witness stand, woo, wooing, wynd, yard
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Court
     the enclosure of the tabernacle (Ex. 27:9-19; 40:8), of the
     temple (1 Kings 6:36), of a prison (Neh. 3:25), of a private
     house (2 Sam. 17:18), and of a king's palace (2 Kings 20:4).
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  COURT, practice. A court is an incorporeal political being, which requires 
  for its existence, the presence of the judges, or a competent number of 
  them, and a clerk or prothonotary, at the time during which, and at the 
  place where it is by law authorized to be held; and the performance of some 
  public act, indicative of a design to perform the functions of a court. 
       2. In another sense, the judges, clerk, or prothonotary, counsellors 
  and ministerial officers, are said to constitute the court. 
       3. According to Lord, Coke, a court is a place where justice is 
  judicially administered. Co. Litt. 58, a. 
       4. The judges, when duly convened, are also called the court. Vide 6 
  Vin. Ab. 484; Wheat. Dig. 127; Merl. Rep. h.t.; 3 Com. Dig. 300; 8 Id. 
  386; Dane's Ab. Index, h.t.; Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t. 
       5. It sometimes happens that the judges composing a court are equally 
  divided on questions discussed before them. It has been decided, that when 
  such is the case on an appeal or writ of error, the judgment or decree is 
  affirmed. 10 Wheat. 66; 11 Id. 59. If it occurs on a motion in arrest of 
  judgment, a judgment is to be entered on the verdict. 2 Dall. Rep. 388. If 
  on a motion for a new trial, the motion is rejected. 6 Wheat. 542. If on a 
  motion to enter judgment on a verdict, the judgment is entered. 6 Binn. 100. 
  In England, if the house of lords be equally divided on a writ of error, the 
  judgment of the court below is affirmed. 1 Arch. Pr. 235. So in Cam. Scacc. 
  1 Arch. Pr. 240. But in error coram nobis, no judgment can be given if the 
  judges are equally divided, except by consent. 1 Arch. Pr. 246. When the 
  judges are equally divided on the admission of testimony, it cannot be 
  received. But see 3 Yeates, 171. Also, 2 Bin. 173; 3 Bin. 113 4 Bin. 157; 1 
  Johns. Rep. 118 4 Wash. C. C. Rep. 332, 3. See Division of Opinion. 
       6. Courts are of various kinds. When considered as to their powers, 
  they are of record and not of record; Bac. Ab. Courts, D; when compared. to 
  each other, they are supreme, superior, and inferior, Id.; when examined as 
  to their original jurisdiction, they are civil or criminal; when viewed as 
  to their territorial jurisdiction, they are central or local; when divided 
  as to their object, they are courts of law, courts of equity, courts 
  martial, admiralty courts, and ecclesiastical courts. They are also courts 
  of original jurisdiction, courts of error, and courts of appeal. Vide Open 
  Court. 
       7. Courts of record cannot be deprived of their jurisdiction except by 
  express negative words. 9 Serg. & R. 298; 3 Yeates, 479 2 Burr. 1042 1 Wm. 
  Bl. Rep. 285. And such a court is the court of common pleas in Pennsylvania. 
  6 Serg. & R. 246. 
       8. Courts of equity are not, in general, courts of record. Their 
  decrees touch the person, not lands. or goods. 3 Caines, 36. Yet, as to 
  personalty, their decrees are equal to a judgment; 2. Madd. Chan. 355; 2 
  Salk., 507; 1 Ver. 214; 3 Caines, 35; and have preference according to 
  priority. 3 P. Wms. 401 n.; Cas. Temp. Talb. 217; 4 Bro. P. C. 287; 4 Johns. 
  Chan. Cas. 638. They are also conclusive between the parties. 6 Wheat. 109. 
  Assumpsit will lie on a decree of a foreign court of chancery for a sum 
  certain; 1 Campb. Rep. 253, per Lord Kenyon; but not for a sum not 
  ascertained. 3 Caines, 37, (n.) In Pennsylvania, an action at law will lie 
  on a decree of a court of chancery, but the pleas nil debet and nul tiel 
  record cannot be pleaded in such an action. 9 Serg. & R. 258. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  COURT, PRIZE. One of the branches of the English admiralty, is called a 
  prize court. Vide Prize Court. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  COURT, INSTANCE. One of the branches of the English admiralty is called an 
  instance court. Vide Instance Court. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  COURT, SUPREME. Supreme court is the name of a court having jurisdiction 
  over all other courts Vide Courts of the United States. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  COURT :FOOL:, n.  The plaintiff.