Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A writ requiring appearance in court to give testimony.
- v. To serve or summon with such a writ.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. 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
- v. serve or summon with a subpoena
Etymologies
- Middle English suppena, from Medieval Latin sub poenā, under a penalty (from the opening words of the writ) : Latin sub, under; see sub- + Latin poenā, ablative of poena, penalty; see kwei-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Protection against contempt for refusing a subpoena is a far cry from being immune to a search warrant.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Thoughts on the Legality of the Gizmodo Warrant
“Working on my motion to quash this week, I was wondering if I was just delusional in thinking that the facts in this case area really, really clearly on my side, and that this subpoena is abusively broad.”
“So the issuance of a subpoena is a simple task, done hundreds of thousands of times a day across the country.”
One Subpoena Is All It Takes to Reveal Your Online Life - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
“From the subpoena: "This subpoena is issued under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 46104; and 49 C. F.R § 1503.3.”
“I wondered if they just waved a paper in front of the guy -- personally I wouldn't know a real subpoena from a piece of letterhead with signatures on it typed up by the very people standing at my door.”
“Anyways, Indymedia received a subpoena from the US Justice Department asking for details of all site visitors on a particular date.”
“The Obama Administration also defied a subpoena from the U.S.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » SEIU Picketing on Someone’s Front Porch?
“If this subpoena is not a fishing expedition then what is?”
“It sounds as if asking for the subpoena is illegal.”
“Our subpoena is aimed at letting Rove explain all he did to give himself, Bush, and Dick Cheney another term in the White House.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘subpoena’.
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Courtroom Speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
writ of execution, writ of certiorari, witness, waiver, warrant, voir dire, victim witness as..., writ, victim compensati..., verdict, venue, victim advocate and 792 more...
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Words that have "ae" or "oe"
Add any words you know that have these letter combinations!
acoelous, cacoethes, aeschylean, aborvitae, phaeochrous, aeneous, algae, aesthetic, aerobics, daedal, vitae, minutiae and 53 more...
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•Unexpected Pronunciation, Now! with Public Acc...
Inspired to publicity by the conversation at segway. Thanks, pals!
boatswain, clapboard, waistcoat, victuals, forecastle, solder, colonel, ensign, worcestershire sauce, creatinine, coelacanth, banal and 77 more...
kewpid Literally, “under punishment” (of the court) Sep 18, 2007