district court

noun

: a trial court that has jurisdiction over certain cases within a specific judicial district

Examples of district court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After the 90-day deadline had passed, the temporary depen-dent administrator filed a response that the district court did not have jurisdiction to consider the homebuilder’s lawsuit because the homebuilder had filed it in the wrong court. —Virginia Hammerle, Dallas Morning News, 8 Mar. 2026

Judge Amber Givens presides over one of 20 criminal district courts in Dallas County. —Steve Pickett, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026

The president's decision to halt funding of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, however, was overturned by a district court judge in August, allowing states to move forward with their charging infrastructure plans. —Morgan Korn, ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026

But district court judges have noted that case law and federal statutes prohibit ICE from detaining people indefinitely or for prolonged periods of time. —Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for district court

• heliport
• nonsupport
• reexport
• teleport
• ultrashort
• abort
• airport
• alport
• athwart
• carport
• comport
• consort

Legal Definition

district court

noun

often capitalized D&C

: a trial court having general or limited jurisdiction in a judicial district: as

a

: one of the federal trial courts sitting in a federal district

b

: a trial court within a state court system