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

Lawyers for the government say the district court does not have the authority to hear personnel challenges. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025

When the federal government appealed the district court’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit upheld the decision, citing the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. —Solcyré Burga, Time, 27 Oct. 2025

As of Tuesday, 630 cases were dismissed in the Boston Municipal Court department and 923 cases were dismissed in the district court department under the Lavallee protocol. —Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025

He is expected to appear in the US district court on Thursday in Los Angeles, the agency said. —Josh Campbell, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1789, 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