disbar
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Usage
Disbar is sometimes wrongly used where debar is meant: he was debarred (not disbarred ) from attending meetings
Other Word Forms
- disbarment noun
- undisbarred adjective
Etymology
Origin of disbar
Explanation
To disbar is to officially take away a lawyer’s license to practice law. If a practicing lawyer gets caught doing something illegal or crazy, it’s time to disbar. “The bar” is the exam that lawyers-to-be must pass after law school so they can practice law. The word bar comes from the wooden bar that surrounds the judge, where the barrister (lawyer) states a case. If you're disbarred, you can no longer practice. A lawyer found guilty of a crime or any other unethical behavior could be disbarred. Getting disbarred is a serious matter — you can tell because it happens to lawyers on TV shows all the time.
Vocabulary lists containing disbar
Just Mercy
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One of Us Is Lying
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 9–15, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In addition to courts penalizing attorneys for inappropriate filings, bar association disciplinary authorities in multiple states have initiated proceedings to suspend or disbar those attorneys from practicing law in their jurisdictions.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2024
Officials in Georgia had been weighing whether to disbar Wood over his efforts, holding a disciplinary trial earlier this year.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 5, 2023
But evidence of additional misconduct during Girardi’s decades of practicing law in California have since emerged, and in January, a State Bar court recommended the state Supreme Court disbar him.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2022
“The plan was to disbar me so I wouldn’t be relevant, and that by and large happened,” he says.
From The Verge • Mar. 10, 2022
In the course of his opinion for the Court, Justice Field discussed generally the power to admit and disbar attorneys.
From The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952 by Corwin, Edward Samuel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
