Meaning & use
subpoenas
Last updated
“subpoenas” is a form of “subpoena”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplurallegal
Official legal orders that require people to appear in court or hand over documents or evidence.
Grammar: Plural form of subpoena: the court sent two subpoenas.
Patterns
- subpoenas for something
- issue subpoenas to someone
The committee issued subpoenas to three former executives.
Two subpoenas arrived on the same morning, one for her and one for her emails.
The lawyers challenged the subpoenas as too broad.
verbtransitivelegal
Third person singular of subpoena: orders someone by legal command to appear in court or provide documents.
Grammar: Takes an object: the court subpoenas a witness.
Patterns
- subpoena someone
- subpoena something
The prosecutor subpoenas any witness who will not come willingly.
If the committee subpoenas the records, the company must hand them over.
Each side subpoenas experts to explain the data.
Common combinations
- issue subpoenas
- The judge may issue subpoenas to key witnesses.
- serve subpoenas
- Officers served subpoenas at the company's office.
- ignore subpoenas
- He faced penalties for ignoring subpoenas.
- challenge the subpoenas
- Lawyers plan to challenge the subpoenas in court.
- grand jury subpoenas
- Grand jury subpoenas demanded all the emails.
Synonyms and how they differ
- summonses
- Summonses order a person to appear in court but usually do not demand documents, which subpoenas often do.
- court orders
- Court orders is much wider and covers any instruction from a judge.
- writs
- Writs is a formal legal term for written commands in general, while subpoenas specifically demand appearance or evidence.
Word family
- subpoena noun
- singular form of the order
- subpoenaed verb
- past tense and participle: ordered to appear or provide evidence
- subpoenaing verb
- the -ing form of the verb
Commonly confused: subpoenas or summons?
subpoenas vs summons
A summons calls someone to court as a party to a case, while a subpoena usually targets witnesses or records.
Practice
The committee sent ___ to the company, demanding all its financial records.
Choose one answer.
Subpoenas are legal orders that demand documents or appearances. Invitations and suggestions are optional, so they do not fit a demand.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subpoenas”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.