Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Used as a name in legal proceedings to designate an unknown man or boy or to protect the identity of a known man or boy.
  • noun An average or ordinary man.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A fictitious name used in the legal documents for an unknown or anonymous male person.
  • noun idiomatic Any unknown or anonymous male person.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a hypothetical average man
  • noun an unknown or fictitious man who is a party to legal proceedings

Etymologies

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Examples

  • SALT LAKE CITY Reuters - Police in Utah identified a mystery man on Tuesday who was arrested on minor charges and sat in a jail under the name "John Doe" for over three weeks because he would not reveal his true identity.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • In other words, a suitable function might turn the name "John Doe" into "987634A65F45665DDA."

    Ars Technica Chris Foresman 2012

  • The lawsuit, filed in Nodaway County Circuit Court under the name John Doe 48, seeks unspecified damages.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • The lawsuit, filed in Nodaway County Circuit Court under the name John Doe 48, seeks unspecified damages.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • The victim will be referred to as "John Doe" going forward.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2011

  • "You've been watching too many movies," a debt collector for Vernace tells someone identified as John Doe, who is worried for his safety after falling behind on repaying a

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • The victim will be referred to as "John Doe" going forward.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2011

  • The victim will be referred to as "John Doe" going forward.

    Breaking News: CBS News 2011

  • It asked a San Francisco court to allow the IRS to serve a so-called John Doe summons against the U.K. bank's U.S. unit, HSBC USA, to get the names of its U.S. clients with Indian accounts.

    U.S. Targets HSBC Over Secret Indian Bank Accounts Brent Kendall 2011

  • In 1997, while she was still a trial judge, Sotomayor recused herself from hearing a case called John Doe v. City of New York, on the ground that she had "personal knowledge regarding the claims."

    The Diabetic Jailbird 2009

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