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prosecute

[pros-i-kyoot]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

Law.

to institute legal proceedings against (a person).

to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process.

to conduct criminal proceedings in court against.

to follow up or carry forward something undertaken or begun, usually to its completion: to prosecute a war.

to carry on or practice.

verb (used without object)

Law.

to institute and carry on a legal prosecution.

to act as prosecutor.

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Prosecute is always a great word to know.

So is foreclose. Does it mean:

the transference of a right, interest, or title, or the instrument of transfer; a transference of property to assignees for the benefit of creditors

to deprive of the right of one to redeem property, especially on a mortgage when due, ownership of property then passing to the mortgagee

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Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English prosecuten to follow up, go on with < Latin prōsecūtus, past participle of prōsequī to pursue, proceed with, equivalent to prō- pro-¹ + secū-, variant stem of sequī to follow + -tus past participle suffix

Related forms

pros·e·cut·a·ble, adjective

pros·e·cut·a·bil·i·ty, noun

non·pros·e·cut·a·ble, adjective

qua·si-pros·e·cut·ed, adjective

re·pros·e·cute, verb (used with object), -cut·ed, -cut·ing.

EXPAND

well-pros·e·cut·ed, adjective

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: persecute, prosecute.

Synonyms
3. perform, discharge, execute, conduct.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To prosecute

Example Sentences

There have been several incidents where they had to fire and/or prosecute baggage screeners at some airports.

Certainly, whether there is enough evidence to prosecute them is debatable.

But there is a law on paper to prosecute the offender.

EXPAND

There have been several incidents where they had to fire and/or prosecute baggage screeners at some airports.

Certainly, whether there is enough evidence to prosecute them is debatable.

But there is a law on paper to prosecute the offender.

British investigators identified a likely forger-then declined to prosecute him.

The department does prosecute criminal acts of infringement, although rarely.

Utah's attorney-general, for example, will not prosecute a polygamist unless there is evidence of abuse or welfare fraud.

Fermon believes existing laws are adequate to prosecute terror.

Officials say that they are determined to arrest and prosecute the culprits.

The government is still riddled with corruption, and not nearly enough has been done to prosecute crooked officials.

However, it has faced criticism for failing to prosecute the ringleaders.

Some claim that to prosecute those who approved torture techniques would criminalize a policy difference.

Denisov said that it is the responsibility of the federal security service to prosecute corrupt professors.

There are already ways to investigate and prosecute lawyers engaged in criminal conspiracies.

Johns said he receives a case to prosecute about once every other week.

Also, it's hard to prosecute vandals unless the site has been.

Until recently, cases were nearly impossible to prosecute because of lack of evidence.

ConsumerLab has no jurisdiction and no way to prosecute and jail offenders.

The conspiracy charge is much more of a long shot to prosecute since it would require proving intent.

It is axiomatic in criminal law that it is tougher to prosecute a case the second time around.

We often see the same thing when women try to prosecute their rapists.

Federal prosecutors had announced two months earlier that they would not prosecute administrators.

Yet, some officials still try to prosecute citizens based on laws that seem increasingly out of step with social mores.

That, coupled with a police resolve to prosecute with or without witnesses, has helped subdue the gang.

When there are any doubts in these cases, the public prosecutor usually decides to prosecute.

Cameras might help to identify and prosecute criminals after a crime takes.

It is now free to prosecute cases itself rather than lay them before the attorney-general, who may ignore them.

In that case, the world's largest movie chain pressured local authorities to prosecute.

Some voices are calling for the creation of an independent state prosecutor to investigate and prosecute police brutality.

Under the new law, states can prosecute out-of-state companies if they make shipments violating the state's law.

Human-rights groups complain that there is no provision to prosecute those suspected of crimes.

Authorities tried to prosecute him on hacking charges but ran into difficulty since he was authorized to use the computer system.

The vagueness of the legislation means that the authorities may prosecute for lavish entertainment as well as more blatant bribes.

There are also plenty of rabid music industry lawyers with a history of going to great lengths to prosecute copyright violators.

Perhaps it's better to shut it down, and try to prosecute those involved.

Government officials say they will prosecute offenders to the full extent of the.

The aim of the court is to prosecute and hopefully deter egregious human-rights abuses.

If a government can prosecute those who draw imaginary.

In another situation,a railway company wants to prosecute road users who jump the barriers at the level crossings.

As the government struggles to hold its own employees to account, attempts to prosecute private firms are proceeding fitfully.

Which is a different thing than to prosecute people who individually committed crimes, regardless of ethnicity.

It's hard to prosecute somebody in the first category because their behaviour so neatly mirrors that of people in the other two.

Haphazard attempts to prosecute crimes committed under the pre-revolutionary regime have generated further discomfort.

Regulators will be better able to prosecute unscrupulous fishermen.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

prosecute (ˈprɒsɪˌkjuːt)

—vb
1.	(tr) to bring a criminal action against (a person) for some offence
2.	(intr)
	a. to seek redress by legal proceedings
	b. to institute or conduct a prosecution
3.	(tr) to engage in or practise (a profession or trade)
4.	(tr) to continue to do (a task, etc)

[C15: from Latin prōsequī to follow, from prō- forward + sequī to follow]

'prosecutable

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

prosecute

early 15c., "follow up, pursue" (some course or action), from L. prosecutus, pp. of prosequi "follow after" (see pursue). Meaning "bring to a court of law" is first recorded 1570s. Prosecutor in legal sense is attested from 1660s; prosecution in this sense is from 1630s.

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Related Words

compound maintenance non prosequitur

nonsuit plead prosecutory

Matching Quote

"[John] Brough's majority is "glorious to behold." It is worth a big victory in the field. It is decisive as to the disposition of the people to prosecute the war to the end. My regiment and brigade were both unanimous for Brough [the Union party candidate for governor of Ohio]."

-Rutherford Birchard Hayes

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