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

The 9th Circuit held a hearing on the Justice Department's appeal of the district court's decision, but has not yet issued a ruling. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025

George Packard, whose Antigo store made 90% of its sales in vapes, closed when the district court allowed the law to take effect. —Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 10 Dec. 2025

While an earlier district court decision found the Texas map likely discriminated against Black and Hispanic Texans by diluting their voting power, Supreme Court justices sided with the defendants by ruling that the districts were drawn with partisan motivations, which is legally allowed. —Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 8 Dec. 2025

Bond can only be set by district court judge. —Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025

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