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Definition of sue verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

sue

verb
 
/suː/
 
/suː/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they sue
 
/suː/
 
/suː/
he / she / it sues
 
/suːz/
 
/suːz/
past simple sued
 
/suːd/
 
/suːd/
past participle sued
 
/suːd/
 
/suːd/
-ing form suing
 
/ˈsuːɪŋ/
 
/ˈsuːɪŋ/
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  1. [transitive, intransitive] to make a claim against a person or an organization in court about something that they have said or done to harm you
    • They threatened to sue if the work was not completed.
    • sue (somebody/something) for something to sue somebody for breach of contract
    • to sue somebody for $10 million (= in order to get money from somebody)
    • to sue somebody for damages
    • He threatened to sue the company for negligence.
    • sue somebody/something The water authority was successfully sued over his illness.
    Topics Law and justicec1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • successfully
    • unsuccessfully
    • promptly
    verb + sue
    • be able to
    • be entitled to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • for
    • over
    See full entry
  2. [intransitive] sue for something (formal) to formally ask for something, especially in court
    • to sue for divorce
    • The rebels were forced to sue for peace.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • successfully
    • unsuccessfully
    • promptly
    verb + sue
    • be able to
    • be entitled to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • for
    • over
    See full entry
  3. Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French suer, based on Latin sequi ‘follow’. Early senses were very similar to those of the verb follow.
See sue in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sue in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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