Court , n. -- 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.
Court , v. i. 1. To
play the lover; to woo;
as, to go
courting.
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.
By one person, hovever, Portland was still assiduously
courted.
Macaulay.
2.
To endeavor to gain the
affections of; to seek in marriage; to woo.
If either of you
both love Katharina . . .
Leave shall you have to
court her at your pleasure.
Shak.
3. To attempt to gain; to solicit; to seek.
They might almost seem to have courted the crown of
martyrdom.
Prescott.
Guilt and misery . . . court privacy and solitude.
De
Quincey.
4. To invite by
attractions; to allure; to attract.
A well-worn pathway courted us
To one green wicket in a privet hedge.
Tennyson.
Court (kōrt), 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.
The courts of the house of
our God.
Ps. cxxxv.
2.
And round the cool green courts there ran a row
Of cloisters.
Tennyson.
Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
Macaulay.
2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
Attends the emperor in his royal
court.
Shak.
This our court, infected with their manners,
Shows like a riotous inn.
Shak.
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.
My
lord, there is a nobleman
of the court at door would speak with you.
Shak.
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.
Sir. W. Scott.
4.
Any formal assembling of the retinue of a
sovereign; as, to hold a court.
The princesses held their court within the fortress.
Macaulay.
5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners; civility; compliment; flattery.
No solace could her paramour intreat
Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
Spenser.
I went to make my court to the Duke and
Duchess of Newcastle.
Evelyn.
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.
Most heartily I do beseech
the court
To give the judgment.
Shak.
7. The session of a
judicial assembly.
8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
9. A place arranged for playing the game of tennis; also, one of the
divisions of a tennis court.
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 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. SeeRoll. -- 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.
Hear it pronounced