subpoena
noun
sub·poe·na
| \ sə-ˈpē-nə
, nonstandard -nē
\
, nonstandard -nē
\
Definition of subpoena
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure
subpoena
verb
subpoenaed;
subpoenaing
Definition of subpoena (Entry 2 of 2)
: to serve or summon with a writ of subpoena
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Examples of subpoena in a Sentence
Noun
received a subpoena to appear as a witness for the prosecutionVerb
He was subpoenaed to testify in a hearing. The prosecutor subpoenaed the defendant's financial records.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
House Democrats on the Judiciary Committee filed suit on July 26 to release the materials, and are planning another suit to enforce their subpoena against former White House Counsel Don McGahn, who has refused to testify. — Luke Johnson, Fortune, "House Judiciary Committee Chair Sketches Out Trump Impeachment Timeline as Caucus Support Grows," 5 Aug. 2019 Nadler also told reporters that the panel would go to court next week to enforce its subpoenas against former White House counsel Donald McGahn, whose testimony was key to the report. — BostonGlobe.com, "Trump says director of National Intelligence is resigning," 29 July 2019 Nadler also announced Friday that early next week, the House will ask the courts to enforce its subpoena of McGahn, who was considered a central witness by the special counsel. — Rebecca Kaplan, CBS News, "House Judiciary Committee is considering articles of impeachment against Trump, court filing says," 26 July 2019 The committee could move within days to request a court order to enforce its subpoena for documents and in-person testimony from McGahn, multiple officials tell NBC News. — NBC News, "With Mueller on tap, McGahn becomes the next target for House Democrats," 23 July 2019 Former White House counsel Don McGahn defied his subpoena and didn’t appear. — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, "House panel OK's 12 subpoenas for Trump associates, including Kushner, National Enquirer executives," 11 July 2019 The panel has decided to take McGahn to civil court to try to force him to comply with their subpoena, arguing the White House assertion of executive privilege over his testimony doesn't stand up to scrutiny. — al.com, "Alabama woman agrees to testify in Mueller report probe," 24 June 2019 The most closely watched is Beshear's suit against the Labor Cabinet, opposing its subpoena of school districts. — Phillip M. Bailey, The Courier-Journal, "In the fierce campaign for governor, Beshear may be exaggerating his court wins over Bevin," 22 May 2019 In May, McGahn, now a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C., refused, at the direction of the White House, to comply with a congressional subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. — Robert Legare, CBS News, "House Democrats sue former White House counsel Don McGahn," 7 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The panel is considering a request from Trump to block access to financial records at Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp. that have been subpoenaed by House Democrats. — Chris Dolmetsch / Bloomberg, Time, "Deutsche Bank Confirms It Has Tax Returns Requested by Subpoenas for President Trump and Family," 27 Aug. 2019 The panel is considering a request from Trump to block access to financial records at Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp. that were subpoenaed by House Democrats. — Bloomberg News, Los Angeles Times, "Deutsche Bank has Trump-related tax returns sought by House Democrats," 27 Aug. 2019 In June, Mueller agreed to testify before Congress about his Russia investigation after he was subpoenaed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Judiciary, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. — NBC News, "Mueller last-minute request for aide to appear as witness during his testimony," 23 July 2019 He was subpoenaed by two district attorneys but never prosecuted. — Joseph Berger, BostonGlobe.com, "1960s prankster Paul Krassner, who named Yippies, dies at 87," 21 July 2019 He was subpoenaed by two different district attorneys but never prosecuted. — Joseph Berger, New York Times, "Paul Krassner, Anarchist, Prankster and a Yippies Founder, Dies at 87," 21 July 2019 Rodgers and Visoski were subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan shortly after Epstein's arrest in July, The New York Times reported, and both pilots have cooperated with the investigation. — Christopher Maag, USA TODAY, "New Jersey's Teterboro Airport was travel hub of Jeffrey Epstein's sex traffic ring," 16 Aug. 2019 Johnson was subpoenaed by the former police officer's defense attorneys to testify at an Aug. 19 hearing. — Jennifer Emily, Dallas News, "Former Dallas DA fights subpoena by Amber Guyger's lawyers in Botham Jean murder case," 2 Aug. 2019 The documents being sought were subpoenaed by a grand jury that met from 1989 to 1992 to look into environmental crimes committed at Rocky Flats, which produced plutonium triggers for the nation’s nuclear arsenal throughout the Cold War. — Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, "More than 60 boxes of documents from the Rocky Flats grand jury probe have gone missing," 30 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'subpoena.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for subpoena
subpoena
noun
English Language Learners Definition of subpoena
(Entry 1 of 2)
law
: a written order that commands someone to appear in court to give evidence
subpoena
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of subpoena (Entry 2 of 2)
law
: to order someone to appear in court to give evidence : to issue a subpoena to (someone) or for (something)
See the full definition for subpoena in the English Language Learners Dictionary
subpoena
noun
sub·poe·na
variants:
also subpena \ sə-ˈpē-nə \
Legal Definition of subpoena
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a writ commanding a designated person upon whom it has been served to appear (as in court or before a congressional committee) under a penalty (as a charge of contempt) for failure to comply — compare summons
subpoena
transitive verb
variants:
also subpena
subpoenaed;
subpoenaing
Legal Definition of subpoena (Entry 2 of 2)
: to call before a court or hearing by a subpoena
the inspector is given the power to subpoena any relevant…witnesses — Harvard Law Review
also
: to command the production of (evidence) by a subpoena duces tecum
subpoenaed documents