Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - court

~1 n 1 »LAW« a building or room where all the information concerning a crime is given so that it can be judged  (There was a large crowd of reporters gathered outside the court. | in court)  (He was summoned to appear in court as a witness. | go to court (=start the legal process to have a case dealt with in a court))  (She was prepared to go to court to get compensation if necessary. | take sb to court (=make someone be judged in a court))  (Davis was taken to court for assaulting a policeman. | settle out of court (=agree without being judged in a court))  (We decided to settle the matter out of court. | court case/appearance/judge etc)  (The court case lasted six weeks.) 2 the court the people in a court, especially the judge and the jury (1)  (The defendant told the court that he was in Newcastle at the time of the alleged rape.) 3 »SPORT« an area that has been specially made for playing games such as tennis on  (There are three squash courts available this evening. | on/off court (=playing or not playing))  (Becker and Edberg are due on court in an hour.) 4 »KING/QUEEN ETC« a) the official place where a king or queen lives and works  (This was one of the most splendid of the royal courts of Europe. | court painter/jester/adviser etc (=someone who is employed by the court to paint etc)) b) the royal people and the people who work for them or advise them  (Several members of the court were under suspicion.) 5 hold court to speak in an interesting and amusing way so that people gather to listen to you  (Gary was holding court in the pub last night.) 6 pay court to old-fashioned to give a lot of your attention to someone in order to impress them  (Stefan was dancing with everyone and paying court to all the girls.) 7 »CASTLE/LARGE HOUSE« an open space that is completely or partly surrounded by buildings, especially one that is part of a castle or large house; courtyard 8 Court especially BrE used as part of the name of a short street or of an apartment building  (- see also the ball is in your court ball1 (10), be laughed out of court laugh1 (7)) ~2 v 1 old-fashioned if a man courts a woman, he visits her, takes her to restaurants etc because he hopes to marry her  (Richard courted Lindsay for years before she agreed to marry him.) 2 old-fashioned if a man and a woman are courting, they are having a romantic relationship and may get married  (We were courting for two years before we even got engaged.) 3 court danger/death/punishment etc to behave in a way that makes danger etc more likely  (You realize you're simply courting danger by driving that old car?) 4 to try to get something you want, especially support from other people, by doing something to please them  (The directors are courting the support of the shareholders.)