supreme court

noun

often capitalized S&C

1

: the highest judicial tribunal in a political unit (such as a nation or state)

2

: a court of original jurisdiction in New York state subordinate to a final court of appeals

Examples of supreme court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, the state supreme court this month ruled his attorneys had failed to prove that anything has changed since the inmate was deemed competent. —Dakin Andone, CNN, 17 Dec. 2024

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a Hawaii man's appeal of his prosecution for carrying a handgun without a license, leaving untouched a state supreme court decision that castigated its new framework for determining whether gun laws comport with the Second Amendment. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 9 Dec. 2024

At least 20 states, of the 38 that elect justices in some way, have had at least one supreme court race that saw more than $1 million in spending. —Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2024

The Nevada supreme court has ruled that election officials can count mail ballots with no postmark that are received as many as three days after Election Day. —John Fund, National Review, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1686, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

supreme court

noun

: the highest court in a political unit (as the U.S. or one of its states)

Legal Definition

supreme court

noun

su·​preme court

1

: the highest court in a nation or state

specifically, capitalized S&C : the highest court in the judicial branch of the U.S. government that has original jurisdiction over controversies involving ambassadors or other ministers or consuls but whose main activity is as the court of last resort exercising appellate jurisdiction over cases involving federal law

2

capitalized S&C : a court of original jurisdiction in New York

Note: The court of last resort in New York is the Court of Appeals.