From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubpoenasub‧poe‧na1 /səˈpiːnə, səb-/ noun [countable] lawSCL a written order to come to a court of law and be a witness
Examples from the Corpus
subpoena• In separate votes, the panel agreed unanimously to issue 43 subpoenas.• Only two of the 51 subpoenas focus on Republican wrongdoing.• Clinger also issued Thomason a subpoena demanding any records pertaining to the travel office case.• A subpoena to them, I suggest, is bound to uncover a good deal of information, including doctors' names.• He then handed me two grand-jury subpoenas, one to produce physical evidence a blood specimen and one to testify.• That course would doubtless prompt an application by the P.C.A. to set aside the subpoena on grounds of public interest immunity.• The commission said it could revive the subpoenas if the editors failed to cooperate with the inquiry, which opens this week.• Another three of the president's advisors were subpoenaed.• If you refuse to attend the trial we can always get you subpoenaed.subpoenasubpoena2 verb (past tense and past participle subpoenaed) [transitive] lawSCL to order someone to come to a court of law and be a witness James was subpoenaed as a witness.► see thesaurus at order→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
subpoena• The police would subpoena and study this footage.• The truth commission intends to subpoena Basson, who has been invited to apply for amnesty.• Nor can police subpoena his records from Georgetown University Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries.• Lipranzer will be called, apparently to say I instructed him not to subpoena my home phone tolls.• These people ought to subpoena some 10-year-olds who could tell them what really goes on.• This is an important development, which allows litigants before domestic courts effectively to subpoena the Commission.• Both the teacher and the board can subpoena witnesses.From Longman Business Dictionarysubpoenasub‧poe‧na1 /səˈpiːnə, səb-/ verb [transitive]LAW to order someone to come to court and be a witness, or to order someone to give documents to the courtTelephone companies’ records can be subpoenaed.subpoena somebody to do somethingWe will subpoena him to give evidence.→ See Verb tablesubpoenasubpoena2 noun [countable]LAW a document ordering someone to come to court and be a witness, or ordering someone to give documents to the courtThe regulators issued a subpoena for documents relating to 23 company audits.Origin subpoena1 (1400-1500) Latin sub poena “under punishment” (the first words of the written order) 