SG Heritage Dictionary

Prosecution [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. The act or process of endeavoring to gain or accomplish something; pursuit by efforts of body or mind; as the prosecution of a scheme, plan, design or undertaking; the prosecution of war or of commerce; the prosecution of a work, study, argument or inquiry.

2. The institution and carrying on of a suit in a court of law or equity. to obtain some right, or to redress and punish some wrong. The prosecution of a claim in chancery is very expensive. Malicious prosecutions subject the offender to punishment.

3. The institution or commencement and continuance of a criminal suit; the process of exhibiting formal charges against an offender before a legal tribunal, and pursuing them to final judgment; as prosecutions of the crown or of the state by the attorney or solicitor general. Prosecutions may be by presentment, information or indictment.

Prosecution [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. The act or process of prosecuting, or of endeavoring to gain or accomplish something; pursuit by efforts of body or mind; as, the prosecution of a scheme, plan, design, or undertaking; the prosecution of war.

2. The institution and carrying on of a suit in a court of law or equity, to obtain some right, or to redress and punish some wrong; the carrying on of a judicial proceeding in behalf of a complaining party, as distinguished from defense.

3. The institution, or commencement, and continuance of a criminal suit; the process of exhibiting formal charges against an offender before a legal tribunal, and pursuing them to final judgment on behalf of the state or government, as by indictment or information.

4. The party by whom criminal proceedings are instituted.

Pursuit Roget’s Thesaurus §622

N. pursuit, pursuing, prosecution, pursuance, enterprise, business, adventure, quest, scramble, hue and cry, game, hobby, still-hunt, chase, hunt, battue, race, steeple chase, hunting, coursing, venation, venery, fox chase, sport, sporting, shooting, angling, fishing, hawking, shikar, pursuer, hunter, huntsman, shikari, sportsman, nimrod, hound

V. pursue, prosecute, follow, run after, make after, be after, hunt after, prowl after, shadow, carry on, engage in, set about, endeavor, court seek, aim at, follow the trail, fish for, press on, run a race, chase, give chase, course, dog, hunt, hound, tread on the heels, follow on the heels of, &c. (sequence) 281, rush upon, rush headlong ride full tilt at, run full tilt at, make a leap at, jump at, snatch at run down, start game, tread a path, take a course, hold- a course, shape one's steps, direct one's steps, bend one's steps, course, play a game, fight one's way, elbow one's way, follow up, take to, take up, go in for, ride one's hobby

Adj. pursuing, in quest of in pursuit, in full cry, in hot pursuit, on the scent

Adv. in pursuance of, after

Int. tallyho, yoicks, soho

Lawsuit Roget’s Thesaurus §969

N. lawsuit, suit, action, cause, litigation, suit in # law, dispute, citation, arraignment, prosecution, impeachment, accusation, presentment, true bill, indictment, apprehension, arrest, committal, imprisonment, writ, summons, subpoena, latitat, nisi prius, venire, venire facias pleadings, declaration, bill, claim, proces verbal, bill of right, information, corpus delicti, affidavit, state of facts, answer, reply, replication, plea, demurrer, rebutter, rejoinder, surrebutter, surrejoinder, suitor, party to a suit, plaintiff, defendant, litigant, hearing, trial, verdict, appeal, appeal motion, writ of error, certiorari, case, decision, precedent, decided case, reports (legal reference works, see reference books)

V. go to law, appeal to the law, bring to justice, bring to trial, bring to the bar, put on trial, pull up, accuse, prefer a claim, file a claim, take the law of, inform against, serve with a writ, cite, apprehend, arraign, sue, prosecute, bring an action against, indict, impeach, attach, distrain, commit, arrest, summon, summons, give in charge, empanel a jury, implead, join issue, close the pleadings, set down for hearing, try, hear a cause, sit in judgment, adjudicate

Adj. litigious, qui tam, coram judice, sub judice

Adv. pendente lite

Phr. adhuc sub judice lis est, accedas ad curiam, transeat in exemplum