Words / W / Law

want of prosecution

noun

C2CEFR level
88/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

A party's failure to advance the action with due diligence, exposing it to dismissal.

Three dormant years led to dismissal for want of prosecution.

Similar: delay

Topic: Evidence & procedure in Legal English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More law words: Evidence & procedure