SUBPOENA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does subpoena mean? 

• SUBPOENA (noun)
  The noun SUBPOENA has 1 sense:

1. a writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court

  Familiarity information: SUBPOENA used as a noun is very rare.

• SUBPOENA (verb)
  The verb SUBPOENA has 1 sense:

1. serve or summon with a subpoena

  Familiarity information: SUBPOENA used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBPOENA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

subpoena; subpoena ad testificandum

Hypernyms ("subpoena" is a kind of...):

judicial writ; writ ((law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

subpoena (serve or summon with a subpoena)

• SUBPOENA (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they subpoena    ... he / she / it subpoenas   
Past simple: subpoenaed   
Past participle: subpoenaed   
-ing form: subpoenaing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Serve or summon with a subpoena

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The witness and her records were subpoenaed

Hypernyms (to "subpoena" is one way to...):

process; serve; swear out (deliver a warrant or summons to someone)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

subpoena (a writ issued by court authority to compel the attendance of a witness at a judicial proceeding; disobedience may be punishable as a contempt of court)

 Context examples 

Data cannot be subpoenaed and assures anonymity to study participants.

(Certificate of Confidentiality, NCI Thesaurus)