collocation · neutral
reach a verdict
UK/riːtʃ ə ˈvɜːdɪkt/US/riːtʃ ə ˈvɜrdɪkt/reach a VER·dict
to come to an official decision in court about whether the defendant is guilty or not
Examples
“After three days of deliberation the jury reached a verdict of not guilty.”
“The judge instructed the jury before they tried to reach a verdict.”
“It took the panel several hours to reach a verdict.”
Band 8 sentence
“Following lengthy deliberation, the jury reached a verdict that surprised many observers.”
Collocations
- reach a verdict of guilty/not guilty
- reach a unanimous verdict
Word family
Common mistakes
make a verdict→reach a verdict
reach the verdict→reach a verdict
Say it for a higher band
5decide the case→6announce a verdict→7+reach a verdict
Synonyms
announce a verdict
Easily confused
announce a verdict
“After deliberation, the judge announced the verdict to the court.”
Related words
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In Crime & Law
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