# sue

Pronunciation: say "SOO" US /su/, UK /suː/

## Verb

1. To bring a civil legal action against a person or organization in court.
   - Simple: To take someone to court to get money or to settle a problem.
   - _He threatened to sue the contractor over the unfinished work._
   - _They sued the manufacturer for selling a faulty product._
2. To seek something by formal request; to petition, entreat, or plead for it.
   - Simple: To ask for something seriously and formally, such as peace or mercy.
   - _The defeated nation moved to sue for peace before winter set in._
   - _Envoys sued for a truce on behalf of the besieged city._
4. Of a hawk or falcon, to clean its beak, typically by wiping it across a surface.
   - Simple: Of a hawk, to clean its beak by wiping it on something.
   - _Trainers watch the bird sue its beak after a meal._
   - _The peregrine sued its beak on the branch before settling._
5. To leave a vessel stranded high and dry on the shore, as when the tide recedes.
   - Simple: To leave a boat stuck on land when the water goes down.
   - _An unusually low tide can sue even large fishing boats._
   - _The ebb sued the trawler on the sandbank by dawn._

## Verb

3. To court a person; to seek someone's affection or hand in marriage. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To try to win someone's love or affection.
6. To follow after a person or thing; to go in pursuit or attendance. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To go after or follow someone or something.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English seuen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer and Old French sivre ("to follow after"), from Vulgar Latin *sequere and Latin sequi ("to follow"). It is cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir, a doublet of segue, and related to suit.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sue (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).