verb phrase · formal
issue a subpoena
/ˈɪʃuː ə səˈpiːnə/ISS·ue a sub·PEE·na
to officially order someone to appear in court or to provide documents
Examples
“The prosecutor decided to issue a subpoena for the witness’s phone records.”
“If the witness does not cooperate, the court can issue a subpoena.”
“Defense lawyers sometimes ask judges to issue a subpoena to obtain key documents.”
Band 8 sentence
“When a reluctant witness refused to cooperate, the judge issued a subpoena to compel their testimony.”
Collocations
- issue a subpoena for
- issue a subpoena to
Word family
Common mistakes
issue subpoena→issue a subpoena
send a subpoena→issue a subpoena
Say it for a higher band
5call someone to court→6send a subpoena→7+issue a subpoena
Synonyms
serve a subpoena
Easily confused
serve a subpoena
“The lawyer served a subpoena on the witness yesterday.”
Related words
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