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 ruling is a setback for Arkansas medical marijuana petitioners aiming to expand access for qualified patients. —Dario Sabaghi, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

In order to win the money, petitioners have to be a registered voter from one of the following battleground states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. —Solcyré Burga, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024

Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-Scale Solar Assn., who supported exploring listing the owls, said the petitioners made unsubstantiated claims about the effect of solar projects on the species. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2024

Suspicious mail containing white powder sent to election offices in at least 16 states The Democratic National Committee as an intervener in the case also countered the Republican petitioners. —Isabella Murray, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above