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

Kennedy appealed to the Supreme Court on Oct. 21, requesting his name be covered with stickers on the ballots—even though hundreds of thousands of people had already voted—after both state supreme courts ruled his name would stay on the ballot despite suspending his campaign in August. —Molly Bohannon, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Advertisement In an emergency appeal, the RNC lawyers said the justices should overturn a recent ruling by Pennsylvania’s state supreme court and forbid the counting of provisional ballots by voters who made a mistake in submitting their mail ballots. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2024

Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the initiative, filed a complaint with the state supreme court to reverse Thurston's decision. —Worth Sparkman, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024

Last April, the state supreme court overturned a 2022 ruling made by the previous panel that said partisan gerrymandering violated the state constitution, opening the door for the legislature to draw an advantageous map for Republicans. —Cooper Burton, ABC News, 9 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.