Etymology
From Middle English lawier, lawyer, lawer, equivalent to law + -yer.
Noun
lawyer (plural lawyers)
- A professional person with a graduate law degree that qualifies for legal work (such as Juris Doctor)
- A professional person qualified (as by a law degree or bar exam) and authorized to practice law as an attorney-at-law, solicitor, advocate, barrister or equivalent, i.e. represent parties in lawsuits or trials and give legal advice.
- The remix artists needed to hire a defense lawyer when they got sued.
- A legal layman who argues points of law.
- Any of various plants that have hooked thorns.
- A relative of the raspberry found in Australia and New Zealand, Rubus australis[quotations.
- Various species of Calamus, including Calamus australis, Calamus muelleri, Calamus obstruens, Calamus vitiensis, Calamus warburgii, and Calamus moti.
- A woody climbing rainforest vine, Flagellaria indica.
Derived terms
- common lawyer
- corporate lawyer
- criminal lawyer
- defense lawyer
- labour lawyer
- lawyer vine
Verb
lawyer (third-person singular simple present lawyers, present participle lawyering, simple past and past participle lawyered)
- (intransitive) To perform, or attempt to perform, the work of a lawyer.
- (intransitive) To make legalistic arguments.
Credits
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