prosecuted
- 1Simple past and past participle of prosecute.
The state prosecuted him for fraud after a two-year investigation.
Several executives were prosecuted once the financial records came to light.
Note
A regular -ed form doing double duty: the same spelling is the simple past (the state prosecuted him) and the participle behind perfect and passive constructions (has prosecuted, was prosecuted). Most often it is courtroom language, with the offense introduced by for. An older reading survives too, meaning to pursue something to the end, as when a campaign or an inquiry is prosecuted vigorously, with no court involved.
prosecuted is a form of prosecute
prosecute, verb: To initiate criminal proceedings against a person accused of an offense. Full entry
- Forms
- prosecuteprosecutes he/she/itprosecuting -ing formprosecuted past tense, past participle
- Spelling
- prosecute → prosecuted: add -d
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /ɪd/, an extra syllable.
Use it in a sentence
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