Meaning & use
courtroom
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Meaning
nouncountable
The room inside a courthouse where a judge hears cases and trials take place.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a courtroom' or 'two courtrooms'.
Patterns
- in the courtroom
- enter the courtroom
- a packed courtroom
The witness walked slowly to the front of the courtroom.
Cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom during the trial.
The old courtroom had wooden benches and high windows.
Word forms
| plural | courtrooms |
|---|
Common combinations
- in the courtroom
- The lawyers spoke quietly in the courtroom.
- enter the courtroom
- Please stand when the judge enters the courtroom.
- a packed courtroom
- A packed courtroom waited for the verdict.
- courtroom drama
- The trial became a courtroom drama that fascinated the public.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- courthouse noun
- The building that contains one or more courtrooms.
- court noun
- The place where legal cases are heard, or the judge and officials themselves.
Commonly confused: courtroom or court? courtroom or courthouse?
courtroom vs court
Court can mean the legal institution or a session of it, while courtroom is the actual room.
courtroom vs courthouse
A courthouse is the whole building; a courtroom is one room inside it.
Practice
Choose the correct word: 'The trial will be held in the ___ on the second floor.'
Choose one answer.
A trial is held in a specific room, so 'courtroom' is correct. 'Court' can mean the institution or the session, 'courthouse' is the whole building, and 'courtier' is a person at a royal court.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “courtroom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.