grand jury

noun

: a jury that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges (as by indictment)
grand juror noun

Examples of grand jury in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Eventually, Smollett was indicted by a grand jury on 16 felony charges. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 1 July 2026 The grand jury of the festival, which takes place in the western Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary, will consider 12 movies for the top prize, the Crystal Globe. — ABC News, 3 July 2026 According to a Yolo County civil grand jury report released in March, the county bore some responsibility for the explosion. — Alula Alderson, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026 On Monday, a Payette County grand jury returned an indictment for 23-year-old Andrea Shaw in the deaths of her 18-month-old twins, the release said. — Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for grand jury

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of grand jury was in the 15th century

Rhymes for grand jury

See All Rhymes for grand jury

Browse Nearby Words

Grand Junction
grand jury
grandkid
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Grand jury.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grand%20jury. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

grand jury

noun
: a jury that chiefly examines accusations of crime made against persons and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried

Legal Definition

grand jury

noun
: a jury that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried see also no bill and true bill at bill sense 3b, indictment compare petit jury, special grand jury

More from Merriam-Webster on grand jury

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about grand jury

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All