5 → see also Crown Court , High Court , kangaroo court
6 PHRASE If you go to court or take someone to court , you take legal action against them. □ They have received at least twenty thousand pounds each but had gone to court to demand more. □ …members of trade associations who want to take bad debtors to court.
7 PHRASE If someone holds court in a place, they are surrounded by a lot of people who are paying them a lot of attention because they are interesting or famous. □ …in the days when Marlene Dietrich and Ernest Hemingway held court in the famous El Floridita club.
8 PHRASE If a legal matter is decided or settled out of court , it is decided without legal action being taken in a court of law. □ …a payment of two million pounds in an out of court settlement.
➋ court /kɔː r t/ (courts , courting , courted )
1 VERB To court a particular person, group, or country means to try to please them or improve your relations with them, often so that they will do something that you want them to do. [JOURNALISM ] □ [V n] Commercial radio stations are courting listeners who prefer different types of music.
2 VERB If you court something such as publicity or popularity, you try to attract it. □ [V n] She has to court publicity to sell records and concert tickets.
3 VERB If you court something unpleasant such as disaster or unpopularity, you act in a way that makes it likely to happen. □ [V n] If he thinks he can remain in power by force, he is courting disaster. SYNONYMS court NOUN ➊3
ground: …the city's football ground.
field: He was the fastest thing I ever saw on a baseball field.
arena: …the largest indoor sports arena in the world.
pitch: There was a swimming-pool, cricket pitches, playing fields.
park: Professional baseball has been played in one park or another since 1896.
cour|teous /kɜː r tiəs/ ADJ Someone who is courteous is polite and respectful to other people. □ He was a kind and courteous man. □ My friend's reply was courteous but firm. ● cour|teous|ly ADV [usu ADV with v, oft ADV adj] □ Then he nodded courteously to me and walked off to perform his unpleasant duty.
cour|tesan /kɔː r t I zæ n, [AM ] -zən/ (courtesans ) N‑COUNT In former times, a courtesan was a woman who had sexual relationships with rich and powerful men for money.
cour|tesy /kɜː r t I si/ (courtesies )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Courtesy is politeness, respect, and consideration for others. [FORMAL ] □ …a gentleman who behaves with the utmost courtesy towards ladies. □ He did not even have the courtesy to reply to my email.
2 N‑SING If you refer to the courtesy of doing something, you are referring to a polite action. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] By extending the courtesy of a phone call to my clients, I was building a personal relationship with them.
3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Courtesies are polite, conventional things that people say in formal situations. [FORMAL ]
4 ADJ [ADJ n] Courtesy is used to describe services that are provided free of charge by an organization to its customers, or to the general public. □ A courtesy shuttle bus operates between the hotel and the town. □ …a courtesy phone.
5 ADJ [ADJ n] A courtesy call or a courtesy visit is a formal visit that you pay someone as a way of showing them politeness or respect. □ The President paid a courtesy call on Emperor Akihito.
6 N‑UNCOUNT [N n, by N ] A courtesy title is a title that someone is allowed to use, although it has no legal or official status. □ Both were accorded the courtesy title of Lady.
7 PHRASE If something is provided courtesy of someone or by courtesy of someone, they provide it. You often use this expression in order to thank them. □ [+ of ] The waitress brings over some congratulatory glasses of champagne, courtesy of the restaurant.
8 PHRASE If you say that one thing happens courtesy of another or by courtesy of another, you mean that the second thing causes or is responsible for the first thing. □ [+ of ] The air was fresh, courtesy of three holes in the roof. □ As millions will have seen, by courtesy of the slow motion re-runs, the referee made a mistake.
court|house /kɔː r thaʊs/ (courthouses )
1 N‑COUNT A courthouse is a building in which a court of law meets. [AM ] in BRIT, use court 2 N‑COUNT A courthouse is a building used by the government of a county. [AM ]
cour|ti|er /kɔː r tiə r / (courtiers ) N‑COUNT Courtiers were noblemen and women who spent a lot of time at the court of a king or queen.
court|ly /kɔː r tli/ ADJ You use courtly to describe someone whose behaviour is very polite, often in a rather old-fashioned way. [LITERARY ] □ The waiter made a courtly bow.
cou rt ma r|tial (court martials , court martialling , court martialled ) also court-martial The spellings court martialing and court martialed are used in American English; courts martial is also used as a plural form for the noun. 1 N‑VAR A court martial is a trial in a military court of a member of the armed forces who is charged with breaking a military law. □ [+ on ] He is due to face a court-martial on drugs charges. □ He was arrested, tried by court martial and shot.