sued; suing

transitive verb

1
a
: to seek justice or right from (a person) by legal process
specifically : to bring an action against
b
: to proceed with and follow up (a legal action) to proper termination
2
archaic : to pay court or suit to : woo
3
obsolete : to make petition to or for

intransitive verb

1
: to take legal proceedings in court
2
: to make a request or application : plead
usually used with for or to
sue for peace
3
: to pay court : woo
he loved … but sued in vainWilliam Wordsworth
suer noun

Examples of sue in a Sentence

Some people sue over the most minor things. People injured in accidents caused by the defective tire have threatened to sue. They've threatened to sue the company. He is suing the doctor who performed the unnecessary surgery.
Recent Examples on the Web So basically, instead of waiting for discrimination to happen and then having an aggrieved person sue, and fight, and take years and years in litigation, these states had to actually ask the federal government for approval. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 16 Sep. 2024 Robinson, who had to borrow someone's truck to keep her job as an assembly line worker at Stellantis and has sued the city in federal court, was never charged with a crime or even identified as a suspect. Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 16 Sep. 2024 Routh was also repeatedly sued by construction contractors for attempting to write checks with insufficient funds. David Brennan, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2024 The state initially rejected the ballot measure application for paperwork issues and organizers then sued the state, but the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in August in the state’. Alison Durkee, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sue 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sewen, siuen to follow, strive for, petition, from Anglo-French sivre, siure, from Vulgar Latin *sequere, from Latin sequi to follow; akin to Greek hepesthai to follow, Sanskrit sacate he accompanies

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of sue was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near sue

Cite this Entry

“Sue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sue. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

sue

verb
sued; suing
1
: to seek justice from a person by bringing a legal action
2
: to make a request or application : plead
usually used with for or to
the weaker nation sued for peace
suer noun

Legal Definition

sue

verb
sued; suing

transitive verb

: to bring an action against : seek justice from by legal process

intransitive verb

: to bring an action in court
Etymology

Anglo-French suer, suire, literally, to follow, pursue, from Old French sivre, ultimately from Latin sequi to follow

Biographical Definition

Sue

biographical name

ˈsü How to pronounce Sue (audio)
ˈsᵫ
Eugène 1804–1857 originally Marie-Joseph Sue French novelist

More from Merriam-Webster on sue

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