court

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   An enclosed space

   An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different buildings; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.

   • The girls were playing in the court.
   • All round the cool green courts there ran a row / Of cloisters, branched like mighty woods, / Echoing all night to that sonorous flow / Of spouted fountain floods.
   • Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
2. 2

   Royal society.

   • The noblemen visited the queen in her court.
   • This our court, infected with their manners, / Shows like a riotous inn.
3. 3

   Attention directed to a person in power

   Attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favor; politeness of manner; civility towards someone.

   • No solace could her paramour entreat / Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
   • I went to make court to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle at their house in Clerkenwell.
4. ›+ 9 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      The administration of law.

      • Many famous criminals have been put on trial in this court.
   2. 5

      A place arranged for playing the games of tennis, basketball, handball, badminton,…

      A place arranged for playing the games of tennis, basketball, handball, badminton, volleyball, squash and some other games

      • The local sports club has six tennis courts and two squash courts.
      • The shuttlecock landed outside the court.
   3. 6

      A space prepared and decorated by certain bird species in which to advertise themselves…

      A space prepared and decorated by certain bird species in which to advertise themselves for a mate.

      • The male Wilson's bird of paradise clears an area of rainforest to create a court in which to perform an elaborate mating dance.
   4. 7

      To seek to achieve or win (a prize).

      • He was courting big new accounts that previous salesmen had not attempted.
      • On the contrary, they employed the brief respite that was left them in fortifying one another's courage, and in bearing testimony to the truth in so earnest a manner that they might almost seem to have courted the crown of martyrdom.
      • Guilt and misery shrink, by a natural instinct, from public notice: they court privacy and solitude: and even in their choice of a grave will sometimes sequester themselves from the general population of the churchyard […]
   5. 8

      To risk (a consequence, usually negative).

      • She courted controversy with her frank speeches.
   6. 9

      To attempt to attract, in any way

      To attempt to attract, in any way; to invite by attractions.

      • Near-synonyms: entice, allure; see also Thesaurus:allure
   7. 10

      A surname from Middle English for someone who worked or lived in a court.

   8. 11

      Nickname for someone named Courtney.

      • 'Hey Court, I just got off the phone with the detective on Mike's case. Got a second?' 'Sure,' Courtney answered, excited.
   9. 12

      A municipality in Bern canton, Switzerland.

The neighborhood

• neighborcourtship
• neighborcourt-noué