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

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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).