hold court
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.98 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To preside in a formal manner over an official assembly of courtiers and others in which entertainment is presented or affairs of state are considered.
verb
To convene or preside over a trial or other legal proceeding in a court of law.
verb
To serve as the principal discussant or center of attention in an informal gathering of friends, associates, etc.
Example Sentences
- "[T]his was one of the anterooms off the main throneroom in which the king was accustomed to hold court with his entire retinue."
- "Bean held court in an outhouse, the prisoner seated on a bale of flint hides. Bean was not only judge but prosecutor, as well as counsel for the defense."
- "California's Acting Secretary of State . . . asked the judge in the case not to hold court on Election Day, Nov. 8, and the day before."
- "She was the centre of a very brilliant group, a most beautiful woman holding court, as was only right and proper, among her admirers."
- "Suddenly I heard a familiar laugh, headed down to the bar and found José Andrés holding court with journalists on behalf of a solar-powered cookstove that cheaply boils water for people with little or no access to fuel."
- "With a rumpled, folksy manner, he held court for years in the smoke-filled beer hall of the King Louis Hotel in Calgary."