class action

class action

noun

law : a lawsuit in which many people join together to sue because they all say they were harmed by the same person or group

Full Definition of CLASS ACTION

:  a legal action undertaken by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and all other persons having an identical interest in the alleged wrong

First Known Use of CLASS ACTION

1952

Rhymes with CLASS ACTION

abstraction, attraction, bolt-action, compaction, contraction, cross action, detraction, diffraction, distraction, exaction, extraction, impaction, inaction, infraction, job action, live-action, olfaction, protraction, reaction, redaction, refraction, retraction, stop-action, subtraction, transaction

class action

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In law, an action in which a representative plaintiff sues or a representative defendant is sued on behalf of a class of plaintiffs or defendants who have the same interests in the litigation as their representative and whose rights or liabilities can be better determined as a group than in a series of individual suits. Class-action suits that received national attention in the U.S. include a suit brought against manufacturers of Agent Orange by Vietnam veterans exposed to the herbicide (settled in 1984) and a suit concerning the effects of passive smoking brought against tobacco firms (settled in 1997).