codefendant

noun

co·​de·​fen·​dant ˌkō-di-ˈfen-dənt 

in legal circles often -ˌdant

variants or co-defendant

plural codefendants or co-defendants

: a defendant in the same lawsuit or criminal prosecution as another defendant or group of defendants : a joint defendant

… the defendant argued that it was plain error for the trial court to have permitted the prosecution to treat his co-defendant as hostile …

—State v. Saenz, 370 P.3d 1278 (2016)

Examples of codefendant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On April 2, Judge Lewis Liman in New York mostly granted — and in part denied — Baldoni and his codefendants' motion for summary judgment, a bid to avert a trial set to begin May 18. —Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026

Butler was shot in a struggle over a gun with Lee's codefendant, Paul Durham. —Alexandra Simon, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2026

The evidence included reports showing that an eyewitness identified two suspects who were not Jamison or his codefendant. —Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer, 6 Mar. 2026

Among the 50 codefendants who appeared in court, common denominators were in short supply. —Gaby Wood, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for codefendant

• independent
• appendant
• ascendant
• attendant
• defendant
• dependant
• dependent
• descendant
• descendent
• intendant
• resplendent
• transcendent

Legal Definition

codefendant

noun

co·​de·​fen·​dant

ˌkō-di-ˈfen-dənt, -ˌdant

: a joint defendant