lawyers

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of lawyer.

   Both lawyers filed their motions before the deadline.

   The firm hired three new lawyers to handle the merger.

   Note

   The plural reaches well beyond the courtroom. Broadly, lawyers can be laypeople who argue points of law. In colloquial British use the burbot is called a lawyer, and British dialect gives the name to a bramble stem. In Australia and New Zealand, lawyers are a raspberry relative, Rubus australis. The same spelling also serves as the verb form, as in she lawyers for a firm.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of lawyer.

   She lawyers for a downtown firm that handles property disputes.

   Whenever a deal sours, he lawyers his way out of the obligation.

   Note

   Behind this form sits an informal verb usually used without an object. She lawyers for a firm simply means she practices law, and a pedant lawyers when he makes legalistic arguments. With an object it turns pointed: to lawyer someone is to barrage them with questions until they admit something. In careful writing, practices law is the safer choice.

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