summons
1 of 2noun
sum·mons ˈsə-mənz 
plural summonses
1
: the act of summoning
especially : a call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to a duty
2
: a warning or citation to appear in court: such as
a
: a written notification to be served on a person as a warning to appear in court at a day specified to answer to the plaintiff
b
: a subpoena to appear as a witness
3
: something (such as a call) that summons
summons
2 of 2verb
summonsed; summonsing; summonses
transitive verb
: summon sense 2
Synonyms
Noun
- process
- subpoena
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun The judge issued a summons. He received a royal summons.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2022 Candidates are expected to disclose even seemingly inconsequential details about their past, which would include a decade-old small claims cases and a summons for missing jury duty that had been dismissed. Andrew Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Aug. 2022 High Fidelity; just appeared in the season 2 finale of Only Murders in the Building this week; and is about to premiere On the Come Up at the Toronto International Film Festival—took the lack of summons as its own form of invitation. ELLE, 24 Aug. 2022 Court records show that at one point, Thomas couldn’t be located for summons service. Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022 Whiteside did not appear in court on a summons and a warrant was issued for his arrest in May. Ashley Luthern, Journal Sentinel, 27 July 2022 The liquor board has fined the two employees about $118 and served a summons for the owner's arrest. Harold Maass, The Week, 14 July 2022 With court summons sent by mail, many people do not receive mail and have P.O. boxes. Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 28 Aug. 2022 The city of Huntsville has three full-time municipal judges meaning its summons and citation authority is now questionable. Lee Roop | Lroop@al.com, al, 26 Aug. 2022 Tommy Mcardle, Peoplemag, 23 Aug. 2022 The biblical stories portrayed in the mosaics begin when Deborah summons the leader Barak to fight the Canaanites. Lucia Cheng, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 July 2022 Using his pouch of sand, Dream summons his helm, and the demon-thief with it — Coranon (Munya Chawawa). Alex Raiman, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2022 Rashid Johnson is widely recognized for his multidisciplinary work that summons the collective anxieties of our times. New York Times, 1 June 2022 At an anguished moment, Jama summons the courage to confront a human mob seeking vengeance. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 July 2022 Scherzinger summons a green orb just as Vegas and Guetta speed by (on a hover vehicle and something akin to a motorcycle, respectively). Marisa Whitaker, SPIN, 8 July 2022 Vexed, Julia summons an old school chum, Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), and enlists her in a vindictive plot to beguile Malcolm and then break his heart as payback. Natalia Winkelman, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2022 The video design by Luke Halls creates a poetic cyclorama of sea and skyline that conjures history in black-and-white imagery and occasionally summons the nightmares of its characters in gory color. Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2022 See More
Noun
Kemp, however, is hardly the only witness who has sought to quash a summons. Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2022 Candidates are expected to disclose even seemingly inconsequential details about their past, which would include a decade-old small claims cases and a summons for missing jury duty that had been dismissed. Andrew Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Aug. 2022 High Fidelity; just appeared in the season 2 finale of Only Murders in the Building this week; and is about to premiere On the Come Up at the Toronto International Film Festival—took the lack of summons as its own form of invitation. ELLE, 24 Aug. 2022 Court records show that at one point, Thomas couldn’t be located for summons service. Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2022 Whiteside did not appear in court on a summons and a warrant was issued for his arrest in May. Ashley Luthern, Journal Sentinel, 27 July 2022 The liquor board has fined the two employees about $118 and served a summons for the owner's arrest. Harold Maass, The Week, 14 July 2022 With court summons sent by mail, many people do not receive mail and have P.O. boxes. Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 28 Aug. 2022 The city of Huntsville has three full-time municipal judges meaning its summons and citation authority is now questionable. Lee Roop | Lroop@al.com, al, 26 Aug. 2022 Verb
Mangum filed the lawsuit against Walmart in December 2021 for negligent retention and action against person who summons police with improper intent, according to the lawsuit and the AP. Tommy Mcardle, Peoplemag, 23 Aug. 2022 The biblical stories portrayed in the mosaics begin when Deborah summons the leader Barak to fight the Canaanites. Lucia Cheng, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 July 2022 Using his pouch of sand, Dream summons his helm, and the demon-thief with it — Coranon (Munya Chawawa). Alex Raiman, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2022 Rashid Johnson is widely recognized for his multidisciplinary work that summons the collective anxieties of our times. New York Times, 1 June 2022 At an anguished moment, Jama summons the courage to confront a human mob seeking vengeance. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 July 2022 Scherzinger summons a green orb just as Vegas and Guetta speed by (on a hover vehicle and something akin to a motorcycle, respectively). Marisa Whitaker, SPIN, 8 July 2022 Vexed, Julia summons an old school chum, Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), and enlists her in a vindictive plot to beguile Malcolm and then break his heart as payback. Natalia Winkelman, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2022 The video design by Luke Halls creates a poetic cyclorama of sea and skyline that conjures history in black-and-white imagery and occasionally summons the nightmares of its characters in gory color. Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English somouns, from Anglo-French somonse, from past participle of somondre
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1659, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing summons
Kids Definition
summons
noun
sum·mons ˈsə-mənz
plural summonses
1
: the act of calling or sending for
2
: a call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to some duty
a royal summons
3
: a written order to appear in court
Legal Definition
summons 1 of 2
noun
sum·mons ˈsə-mənz
plural summonses
-mən-zəz
: a written notification that one is required to appear in court: as
a
: a document in a civil suit that is issued by an authorized judicial officer (as a clerk of court) and delivered to a plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney for service on the defendant and that notifies the defendant that he or she must appear and defend (as by filing an answer) within a specified time or a default judgment will be rendered for the plaintiff
b
: a document that summons a defendant to appear before a court to answer a minor criminal charge and that is issued in lieu of a warrant for arrest by an authorized judicial officer (as a magistrate) upon request of a prosecuting attorney
c
: a notification to appear for jury service
d
: a notification to appear as a witness see also john doe summons, service compare subpoena
summons
2 of 2transitive verb
summonsed
-mənzd
; summonsing -mən-ziŋ
: summon
especially : to bring into court by a summons
hereby summonsed to serve as a trial juror
summonses
noun
as in subpoenas
a written notice ordering a person to appear in court if you ignore a court summons, you will be fined Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- subpoenas
- warrants
- writs
- processes
- tickets
- capiases