INQUEST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Inquest

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/ˈɪnkwˌɛst/ Listen

noun

Inquest n.

Inquiry; quest; search. (R.) "The laborious and vexatious inquest that the soul must make after science."

(Law)

(a)

Judicial inquiry; official examination, esp. before a jury; as, a coroner's inquest in case of a sudden death.

(b)

A body of men assembled under authority of law to inquire into any matter, civil or criminal, particularly any case of violent or sudden death; a jury, particularly a coroner's jury. The grand jury is sometimes called the grand inquest. See under Grand.

(c)

The finding of the jury upon such inquiry.

Coroner's inquest, an inquest held by a coroner to determine the cause of any violent, sudden, or mysterious death. See Coroner.

Inquest of office, an inquiry made, by authority or direction of proper officer, into matters affecting the rights and interests of the crown or of the state.

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Etymology of 'Inquest'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Inquest" Quotes from Famous Books

... causes unknown. He receives notice of the death; a jury is summoned; witnesses testify; and the jury renders a verdict in writing, stating the cause and the manner of the death. This inquiry is known as the coroner's inquest. In some States when the office of sheriff is vacant, the ...

— Elements of Civil Government • Alexander L. Peterman

... ace of lilies. 'E stared once at me, and looked away as if I didn't count; an' then there were shootin' pains chasin' one another from my bitten finger into my head, and it was Gopher to the dark. That's why I wasn't at the inquest." ...

— Can Such Things Be? • Ambrose Bierce

... the bodies. Early interment was necessary; and a few hours after the inquest was concluded, mother and child were consigned to ...

— International Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science, Vol. 1, - No. 3, Oct. 1, 1850 • Various

... astounding order had just been promulgated, shutting down all industry and business for four days and for the ten succeeding Mondays in order to eke out coal; this was regarded as worse than the loss of a great battle. Every aspect of the war was so depressing that the coroner's inquest broke up at ...

— The Cup of Fury - A Novel of Cities and Shipyards • Rupert Hughes

... she was a good-hearted, well-meaning woman, though without much forecast. He even assented to Lemuel's hasty generalisation of her as a perfect lady, though they both felt a certain inaccuracy in this, and Sewell repeated that she was a woman of excellent heart and turned to a more intimate inquest of Lemuel's life. ...

— The Minister's Charge • William D. Howells

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