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 petitioner has attested under penalty of perjury to the accuracy of its claims and has a substantial interest in enforcing its rights. —Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2025

The Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, but in November 2024, Pakistan introduced restrictions that would mean a person born in Pakistan, to be a citizen, had to either have a parent who was a citizen or permanent resident, or reside in Pakistan for a decade after their birth. —Miranda Jeyaretnam, TIME, 23 Jan. 2025

One of the petitioners, Breckenridge Café NYC, a hemp business, was subject to searches last year, and again last September after getting involved in the lawsuit. —Benjamin Adams, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025

The recall petitioners are waiting to be cleared to collect signatures to qualify for the ballot in a special election before 2026. —Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above