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

Also in a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office, codefendant Kaylen Atkins on March 21 pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. —Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 May 2025

Vazquez-Ferrer and several codefendants were arrested on Nov. 29, 2023. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 24 May 2025

Smith and his codefendants reached a settlement in 2020, requiring them to pay $900,000. —Kate Knibbs, Wired News, 20 May 2025

Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, is working anew at the White House after once being a codefendant with Trump in the classified documents case. —Will Weissert, The Denver Post, 19 Feb. 2025

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