a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
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.
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.