grand jury

noun

|Updated on: 8 Aug 2018

Definition of grand jury

: 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

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grand juror

noun

See grand jury defined for English-language learners

See grand jury defined for kids

Recent Examples of grand jury from the Web

Authorities at the time said the suspects were dead; a state grand jury didn't file any new charges.

— zak koeske, Daily Southtown, "'Trayvon Martin before Trayvon Martin': 63 years after slaying, Emmett Till still visited daily at Alsip cemetery," 13 July 2018
Clinton was subpoenaed in 1998 during the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation, though the subpoena was later withdrawn when Clinton agreed to voluntarily testify before the grand jury.

— mary clare jalonick, The Christian Science Monitor, "Democrats raise questions about Kavanaugh's views on executive power," 12 July 2018
On Friday, the University of Maryland acknowledged receipt of two sets of grand jury subpoenas sent from U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

— michael mccann, SI.com, "Why Maryland Receiving FBI Subpoenas Should Worry Other College Programs, Basketball Players," 7 July 2018
The government uses a variety of methods to obtain communications pertinent to an investigation, including grand jury subpoenas, national security letters and court orders from both criminal and national security judges.

— NBC News, "Roger Stone says he forgot meeting with Russian who offered Clinton dirt," 18 June 2018
The report said the team probing the Clinton matter had obtained at least 56 grand jury subpoenas and three search warrants.

— WSJ, "Five Takeaways From Inspector General’s Report on FBI’s Clinton Probe," 14 June 2018
The indictment also accused Loughry of trying to obstruct the grand jury investigation by seeking to influence the testimony of a Supreme Court employee.

— Washington Post, "More than 100 arrested in ICE raid," 21 June 2018
Piazza suffered a traumatic brain injury from several falls, including a tumble down a set of basement stairs, according to a grand jury investigation.

— darran simon, CNN, "Guilty plea entered in the hazing death of Penn State University fraternity pledge," 13 June 2018
Mudd said blood was taken from both drivers for testing, as is the usual practice in such cases, but the results probably will not be released until the case is submitted to a grand jury.

— The Courier-Journal, "Archives: Courier Journal's initial 1988 report on the Carrollton bus crash," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'grand jury.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of grand jury

15th century

in the meaning defined above

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GRAND JURY Defined for English Language Learners

grand jury

noun

Definition of grand jury for English Language Learners

law : a group of people who look at the evidence against someone who has been accused of a crime in order to decide if there should be a trial

Law Dictionary

grand jury

noun

legal Definition of grand jury

: 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 3b, indictment — compare petit jury, special grand jury