court
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An enclosed space.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kawrtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɔɹt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different buildings; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
Hong Kongonly used in names
A housing estate under the Home Ownership Scheme.
The family and retinue of a sovereign or prince
The residence of a sovereign or nobleman
“The king will visit the duke's court.”
The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority; all the surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.
AustraliaUS
A street with no outlet, a cul-de-sac.
verb
transitive
To seek to achieve or win (a prize).
transitive
To try to win a commitment to marry from.
transitive
To engage in behavior conducive to mating with.
transitive
To attempt to attract; to invite by attractions; to allure.
transitive
To attempt to gain alliance with.
intransitive
To engage in activities intended to win affections.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different buildings; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
Used this way, court is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use court
- “The house was built around an inner court.”noun
- “Players had to reserve a court in advance.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A man's courting of a woman.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A tribunal that is presided over by a magistrate or by one or more judges who administer justice according to the laws.
A tribunal that is presided over by a magistrate or by one or more judges who administer justice according to the laws.
The British royal court.
A writ issued by a court of law requiring a person to do something or to refrain from doing something.
A plaster composed of isinglass on silk.
An ancient form of tennis played in a four-walled court.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: enclosed space
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.