plural summonses
1
: the act of summoning
especially
: a call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to a duty
2
: a warning or citation to appear in court: such as
a
: a written notification to be served on a person as a warning to appear in court at a day specified to answer to the plaintiff
b
: a subpoena to appear as a witness
3
: something (such as a call) that summons
Synonyms
Examples of summons in a Sentence
Noun
The judge issued a summons.
He received a royal summons.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Curbed, 3 Sep. 2024
Four people were taken into custody and handed summonses at the event, CBS reported.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Oct. 2024
Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2024
He has not been arrested or summonsed, but police Monday said the incident is still being investigated.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 1 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for summons 
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Noun
And the ticker-tape parade of summonses has spurred compliance.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Curbed, 3 Sep. 2024
Four people were taken into custody and handed summonses at the event, CBS reported.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Oct. 2024
Verb
In November 2023, Ivanka Trump was summonsed to the New York State Supreme Court to testify against her father, Donald Trump, in a civil real estate fraud trial.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2024
He has not been arrested or summonsed, but police Monday said the incident is still being investigated.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 1 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for summons
Dictionary Entries Near summons
Cite this Entry
“Summons.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summons. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
summons
1 of 2 noun
sum·mons
ˈsəm-ənz 
plural summonses
1
: the act of summoning
especially
: a call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to some duty
2
: a warning or notice to appear in court
3
: a call, signal, or knock that summons
summons
2 of 2 verbLegal Definition
summons
1 of 2 noun
sum·mons
ˈsə-mənz
plural summonses
-mən-zəz
: a written notification that one is required to appear in court: as
a
: a document in a civil suit that is issued by an authorized judicial officer (as a clerk of court) and delivered to a plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney for service on the defendant and that notifies the defendant that he or she must appear and defend (as by filing an answer) within a specified time or a default judgment will be rendered for the plaintiff
b
: a document that summons a defendant to appear before a court to answer a minor criminal charge and that is issued in lieu of a warrant for arrest by an authorized judicial officer (as a magistrate) upon request of a prosecuting attorney
c
: a notification to appear for jury service
d
: a notification to appear as a witness see also john doe summons, service compare subpoena
summons
2 of 2 transitive verb
summonsed
-mənzd
; summonsing
-mən-ziŋ
: summon
especially
: to bring into court by a summons
hereby summonsed to serve as a trial juror
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