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

On Tuesday before the opening of the market, Under Armour reported an operating loss of $72 million and an adjusted operating loss of $36 million after transformation expenses, restructuring charges and litigation settlement expenses in the fourth quarter ended March 31. —Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 13 May 2025

As time has passed, some plaintiffs have increased their claims and recruited external litigation funders, alleging that Google continues to violate antitrust laws by manipulating search results and failing to comply with the EU’s 2017 order. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 13 May 2025

The litigation strategy that began under Nixon would end under Reagan, but perhaps not quite as Nixon intended. —Marie Sapirie, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Monday’s litigation similarly names as defendants the state’s biggest home insurers, including State Farm General. —Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 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