sue
verb /suː/
/suː/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they sue | /suː/ /suː/ |
| he / she / it sues | /suːz/ /suːz/ |
| past simple sued | /suːd/ /suːd/ |
| past participle sued | /suːd/ /suːd/ |
| -ing form suing | /ˈsuːɪŋ/ /ˈsuːɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make a claim against a person or an organization in court about something that they have said or done to harm you
- They threatened to sue if the work was not completed.
- sue (somebody/something) for something to sue somebody for breach of contract
- to sue somebody for $10 million (= in order to get money from somebody)
- to sue somebody for damages
- He threatened to sue the company for negligence.
- sue somebody/something The water authority was successfully sued over his illness.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- successfully
- unsuccessfully
- promptly
- …
- be able to
- be entitled to
- have the right to
- …
- for
- over
- [intransitive] sue for something (formal) to formally ask for something, especially in court
- to sue for divorce
- The rebels were forced to sue for peace.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- successfully
- unsuccessfully
- promptly
- …
- be able to
- be entitled to
- have the right to
- …
- for
- over
Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French suer, based on Latin sequi ‘follow’. Early senses were very similar to those of the verb follow.