grand jury

noun

: a jury that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried

grand juror noun

Examples of grand jury in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The grand jury indictment supersedes the criminal complaint and allows the criminal case to skip the preliminary hearing phase and move toward a trial. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2025

What Happens Next The case now hinges on whether prosecutors seek a grand jury indictment and how much of the body-camera footage is released. —Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025

On February 20th, seventy-three days after Brooks’s death, Fitzpatrick announced that a grand jury had indicted nine correction officers and a sergeant in connection with the assault. —Jennifer Gonnerman, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025

Senior leadership at the Department of Justice had repeatedly voiced skepticism about the case, and no career prosecutor was willing to present the case to the grand jury on Halligan's behalf, sources added. —Katherine Faulders, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grand jury

• buri
• fury

Kids Definition

grand jury

noun

: a jury that chiefly examines accusations of crime made against persons and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried

Legal Definition

grand jury

noun

: a jury that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried see also no bill and true bill at bill sense 3b, indictment compare petit jury, special grand jury