pretrial

adjective

pre·​tri·​al ˌprē-ˈtrī(-ə)l 

variants or pre-trial

: occurring or existing before a trial

a pretrial hearing

Examples of pretrial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Saturday, Judge D’Anthony Thedford allowed for Davis’ pretrial release, but ordered him to surrender his firearm owner’s identification card and firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours. — William Lee, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2026

The animal-cruelty fight is part of a broader pretrial battle over how jurors will see the couple’s volatile relationship. — Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 18 July 2026

Remeslo will be brought to Moscow for a hearing to determine a pretrial restriction, his lawyer, Sergey Badashmin, told Tass. — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 17 July 2026

When Shtilerman refused to hand them over, he was arrested and spent the next two years in Butyrka, a crowded pretrial detention facility near the center of Moscow. — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pretrial

• dial
• rial
• thiol
• trial
• vial
• denial
• mistrial
• posttrial
• retrial
• sensorial

Legal Definition

pretrial

adjective

pre·​tri·​al

ˌprē-ˈtrī-əl

: existing or occurring before trial

a pretrial motion

a pretrial detainee