lawyer
Plurallawyers
Verblawyers, lawyering, lawyered
Plurallawyers
Formslawyers, lawyering, lawyered
- 1A person trained and qualified in law, especially one licensed to give legal advice and represent clients in court.
A good lawyer will advise you before you sign any agreement.
The defendant's lawyers filed an appeal within the deadline.
UsageYou usually hire, get or see a lawyer, who then represents you or acts for you.
Note
The umbrella term for anyone licensed to practice. The formal titles vary by jurisdiction: attorney-at-law, solicitor, advocate, barrister. Some systems divide the profession between solicitors and barristers. Built from law plus the agent suffix -yer, in its strict use it names someone authorized to practice, not merely someone who has studied law. Agatha Christie's "the typical lawyer's mouth" shows how readily the possessive turns it into a recognizable type.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- In the specified professional sense, lawyer is an umbrella term for someone authorized to practise law. en.wiktionary.org
- Professional titles include attorney-at-law, solicitor, advocate and barrister, with distinctions depending on jurisdiction. en.wikipedia.org
- Some legal systems divide the profession into solicitors and barristers. en.wikipedia.org
- Lawyer derives from law plus -yer. en.wiktionary.org
- -yer is an agent suffix. en.wiktionary.org
- The specified professional sense requires authorization to practise, beyond studying law. en.wiktionary.org
- The words “the typical lawyer's mouth” occur in Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in narration describing Mr. Wells. gutenberg.org
- 2To work as a lawyer, or to do or try to do the work a lawyer does.
Many graduates lawyer for a few years before moving into politics.
He lawyered quietly in a rural county for most of his career.
UsageOften lawyer for a firm or lawyer in a place; in careful writing, practice law is the usual phrase.
- 3To bombard a person with relentless questions in order to make them admit something.
UsageOften in the passive, as the playful you've been lawyered! said to someone just cornered into an admission.
Similargrill, interrogate, badger
Less common meanings
- 4To make picky, legalistic arguments, often over small technical points.
They lawyer over every clause instead of finding common ground.
She lawyered endlessly during the meeting, quibbling over wording.
UsageUsed disapprovingly for arguments that focus excessively on legal rules or technicalities.
- 5A person who argues points of law without being a qualified lawyer.
The prisoner became something of a lawyer, filing motion after motion on his own behalf.
Online forums are full of self-appointed lawyers quoting statutes they have never studied.
UsageMost often in compounds: armchair lawyer, jailhouse lawyer, barrack-room lawyer.
Note
A broadened use of the qualified professional for someone who argues points of law without professional qualifications. It can be critical, as in armchair lawyer, or describe practical legal help, as in jailhouse lawyer.
- 6Any of several plants with hook-shaped thorns that catch on anything brushing past them.
- 7Any of several climbing palms of the genus Calamus, armed with hooked thorns and long trailing stems.
- 8A thorny climbing plant of New Zealand, Rubus australis, related to the raspberry.
- 9A woody climbing rainforest vine, Flagellaria indica, that uses tendrils to grip and climb.
The stems of the "lawyer vine" (Flagellaria indica), buz or buzi (W.), boz (E.), are used in house-building, tying fences, etc.
2011, A. C. Haddon, W. H. R. Rivers - 10The burbot, a freshwater cod-like fish (Lota lota) with an elongated body and a single chin barbel.
- 11The trailing, thorny stem of a bramble, such as a blackberry bush.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English lawiere (also lawier, lawer), formed from "law" plus the suffix "-yer".
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Lawyer derives from Middle English lawiere, also spelled lawier and lawer. en.wiktionary.org
- The word was formed from law plus the suffix -yer. en.wiktionary.org