petitioner

noun

pe·​ti·​tion·​er pə-ˈti-sh(ə-)nər 

plural petitioners

: one who makes, submits, or signs a petition

The lost children had not been found. Public prayers had been offered up for them, and many and many a private prayer that had the petitioner's whole heart in it; but still no good news came from the cave.

—Mark Twain

The high court held that when a petition charges an official with violating the law, the petitioners must at least have knowledge of facts which indicate an intent to commit an unlawful act.

—The National Law Journal

The petitioner contended that the taking of the blood sample and the admission of the test results violated his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination …

—Raymond P. Ward

… the draft of the proposed petition was read at length: and the petition said, as all petitions DO say, that the petitioners were very humble, and the petitioned very honourable, and the object very virtuous; therefore (said the petition) the bill ought to be passed into a law at once …

—Charles Dickens

Included in Wednesday's court filing was a petition signed by more than 500 area residents. The petitioners ask that Johnson "be shown mercy and not subjected to a jail term" because he has lost so much due to the conviction.

—Michael Smith

Synonyms

• pleader
• solicitor
• suitor
• suppliant
• supplicant

Examples of petitioner in a Sentence

the lottery winner was beset by a horde of petitioners, all of whom thought that they were most deserving of his charity

Recent Examples on the Web

The injunction was dismissed after the petitioner failed to show up at the hearing. —Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2025

Should the Court side with Ames, her victory could ease legal benchmarks for Title VII claims, opening the way for more straight petitioners to allege discrimination. —Abby Monteil, Them, 10 Mar. 2025

Howley led the petition that resulted in the special Town Meeting on the audit, and petitioners appointed Clough to serve on the committee. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 9 Oct. 2024

Driving the news: The PREVAIL Act would change the process for challenging patents by requiring petitioners to have standing, either by having been sued or threatened with a patent infringement lawsuit. —Victoria Knight, Axios, 18 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for petitioner

• commissioner
• conditioner
• parishioner
• positioner
• practitioner
• missioner