inquest

noun in·quest \ ˈin-ˌkwest \

Updated on: 12 May 2018

1 a : a judicial or official inquiry or examination especially before a jury

a coroner's inquest

b : a body of people (such as a jury) assembled to hold such an inquiry

c : the finding of the jury upon such inquiry or the document recording it

2 : inquiry, investigation

See inquest defined for English-language learners

See inquest defined for kids

Examples of inquest in a Sentence

The court has ordered an inquest into his death.
the police conducted an inquest into the case

Recent Examples of inquest from the Web

An inquest has been ordered following the April 2016 dehydration death of Milwaukee County Jail inmate Terrill Thomas.

— ashley luthern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee County Jail's health care contractor charged with falsifying inmate records," 21 Feb. 2018
King County’s charter requires an inquest, granting the county executive authority over the fact-finding process.

— lewis kamb, The Seattle Times, "King County halts all police-shooting inquests pending committee’s review," 9 Jan. 2018
The story sort of snowballed in a way where, because nobody was willing to talk again after this inquest, the rumor became the truth that was printed, and that was very unfortunate for everyone involved — Mary Jo especially.

— alissa wilkinson, Vox, "Chappaquiddick’s screenwriters on stumbling unwittingly into Kennedy controversy," 16 Apr. 2018
Each shooting also will be reviewed by a jury during a coroner's inquest later.

— matthew brown, Fox News, "Montana police officer shoots, kills man at Billings casino," 10 Apr. 2018
So secret is the process that for some portions of the inquest the partners gather in a secure section of the NTSB building that is equipped with a unique computer system that allows no communication outside the room.

— faiz siddiqui, Washington Post, "Tesla may have violated federal rules by releasing information about fatal California crash," 2 Apr. 2018
Logan and Allen assembled their account from the testimony at an inquest six months later, as well as Kennedy's memoirs and a book of letters from Kopechne.

— NBC News, "With 'Chappaquiddick,' Ted Kennedy scandal gets its Hollywood close-up," 7 Apr. 2018
By the time of the inquest, his memory had improved considerably.

— olivia b. waxman, Time, "The True Story Behind the Movie Chappaquiddick," 6 Apr. 2018
First, despite a screenplay based on the nearly 1,000-page transcript of the 1970 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court inquest, no one can really know what happened from start to finish in Chappaquiddick.

— kenneth turan, latimes.com, "'Chappaquiddick' is a murky exploration of an infamous political scandal," 5 Apr. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of inquest

Middle English, from Anglo-French enqueste, from Vulgar Latin *inquaesta, feminine of *inquaestus, past participle of *inquaerere to inquire

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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inquest Synonyms

Synonyms

delving, disquisition, examination, exploration, inquiry, inquisition, investigation, probation, probe, probing, research, study;

Related Words

quest;

audit, check;

checkup, diagnosis, inspection;

hearing, interrogation, trial;

feeler, query, question;

poll, questionary, questionnaire, survey;

challenge, cross-examination, going-over, grilling, quiz;

rehearing, reinvestigation;

self-examination, self-exploration, self-questioning, self-reflection, self-scrutiny, soul-searching;

INQUEST Defined for English Language Learners

inquest

noun

law : an official investigation to find the reason for something (such as a person's death)

INQUEST Defined for Kids

inquest

noun in·quest \ ˈin-ˌkwest \

: an official investigation especially into the cause of a death

Medical Dictionary

inquest

noun in·quest \ ˈin-ˌkwest \

: a judicial or official inquiry especially before a jury to determine the cause of a violent or unexpected death

a coroner's inquest

Law Dictionary

inquest

noun in·quest \ ˈin-ˌkwest \

1 : a judicial or official inquiry or examination often before a jury

a coroner's inquest

— compare trial

2 : a body of people (as a jury) assembled to hold a judicial or official inquiry; also : the finding of such an inquiry or the document recording it

Origin and Etymology of inquest

Anglo-French enqueste, from Old French, ultimately from Latin inquirere to ask about, from in- within, into + quaerere to seek

Learn More about inquest

See words that rhyme with inquest Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for inquest Spanish Central: Translation of inquest Nglish: Translation of inquest for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of inquest for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about inquest

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inquest

Examples of inquest in a Sentence

Recent Examples of inquest from the Web

Origin and Etymology of inquest

inquest Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

INQUEST Defined for English Language Learners

inquest

INQUEST Defined for Kids

inquest

Medical Dictionary

inquest

Law Dictionary

inquest

Origin and Etymology of inquest

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