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

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

The race: Mississippi Supreme Court Central District, Place 1 Who is on the ballot: Incumbent Jim Kitchens faces a challenge from four opponents for one of the state's supreme court judge seats. —USA TODAY, 29 Oct. 2024

After the first election, state supreme court judges appear on the ballot every 10th year. —Kim Bojórquez, Axios, 28 Oct. 2024

In Wisconsin, the April 2023 race for a single supreme court seat saw $51 million in total spending. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 23 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.