litigation

noun

lit·​i·​ga·​tion ˌli-tə-ˈgā-shən 

plural litigations

: the act, process, or practice of settling a dispute in a court of law : the act or process of litigating

an issue that has been in litigation for years

an attorney who specializes in the litigation of property disputes

The American Judicial System generally limits the filing of lawsuits to individuals with a personal stake in the litigation, but there are instances when litigants cannot themselves prosecute an action.

—Jonathan Mahler

also : a legal action or proceeding (such as a lawsuit)

"You can't realize how much it costs to run one of these litigations. To get a battery of lawyers into a courtroom and do all the planning … and so on costs $500,000."

—Gordon Gould

Examples of litigation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Rather than pursue litigation, the owners of seven clubs in the Federal League accepted $50,000 payments and interests in MLB clubs. —Chris Deubert, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025

The litigation challenges the tariffs Trump imposed on a broad range of U.S. trading partners in April, as well as tariffs imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico. —Jan Wolfe, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2025

This time, Democrats may be hoping for a wave of litigation to stall the maps before the 2026 midterms. —Nik Popli, Time, 4 Aug. 2025

The third-party litigation funding industry operates in the Wild West. —Michael Patrick Flanagan, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing litigation

• in litigation

Rhymes for litigation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation