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

And in the other supreme court race, voters backed Thomas, nominated by Democrats, for a full eight-year term on the bench over Republican state Rep. Andrew Fink, of Hillsdale. —Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 6 Nov. 2024

Some Brazilian users have reported their access is restored, including fandom accounts that were cut off by the ban, like this one following the musician Lorde: The order comes as a result of Brazil’s supreme court saying that X may resume activities for its social network in the country. —Umar Shakir, The Verge, 9 Oct. 2024

Previously, Brazil’s supreme court blocked users of the platform until Musk followed rules including: appointing a legal representative in the country, paying outstanding fines and removing user accounts considered to be a threat to democracy. —Caroline Frost, Deadline, 22 Sep. 2024

In a sideshow to the drama in Venezuela, Lula’s government and Brazil’s supreme court have been engaged in a battle of wills with Trump’s champion Elon Musk, who has used his X platform to intervene in the country’s political divisions on behalf of Bolsonaro. —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 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.