prosecute

/ˈprɒsɪkjuːt/ verb [I or T] LAW

Definition

› to officially accuse someone in a court of law of committing a crime: Trespassers will be prosecuted.prosecute sb for sth In this area, 26 people have been prosecuted for mortgage fraud in the past three years.

› if a lawyer prosecutes a case, they try to prove that a person accused of committing a crime is guilty: prosecute a case/lawsuit The leader of the Justice Department team prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies.

→ Compare defend

(Definition of prosecute verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)