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Webster 1913 Edition


Peremptory

Per′emp-to-ry

,
Adj.
[L.
peremptorius
destructive, deadly, decisive, final: cf. F.
péremptorie
. See
Perempt
.]
1.
Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal; positive; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final.
Think of heaven with hearty purposes and
peremptory
designs to get thither.
Jer. Taylor.
2.
Positive in opinion or judgment; decided; dictatorial; dogmatical.
Be not too positive and
peremptory
.
Bacon.
Briefly, then, for we are
peremptory
.
Shakespeare
3.
Firmly determined; unawed.
[Poetic]
Shak.
Peremptory challenge
(Law)
See under
Challenge
.
Peremptory mandamus
,
a final and absolute mandamus.
Peremptory plea
,
a plea by a defendant tending to impeach the plaintiff’s right of action; a plea in bar.
Syn. – Decisive; positive; absolute; authoritative; express; arbitrary; dogmatical.

Webster 1828 Edition


Peremptory

PER'EMPTORY

,
Adj.
[L. peremptorius, from peremptus, taken away, killed.]
1.
Express; positive; absolute; decisive; authoritative; in a manner to preclude debate or expostulation. The orders of the commander are peremptory.
2.
Positive in opinion or judgment. The genuine effect of sound learning is to make men less peremptory in their determinations.
3.
Final; determinate.
4.
Peremptory challenge, in law, a challenge or right of challenging jurors without showing cause.

Definition 2024


peremptory

peremptory

See also: preemptory

English

Adjective

peremptory (comparative more peremptory, superlative most peremptory)

  1. (law) Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal; positive; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final. [from 15th c.]
    • 1596, Francis Bacon, Maxims of the Law, II:
      there is no reason but if any of the outlawries be indeed without error, but it should be a peremptory plea to the person in a writ of error, as well as in any other action.
  2. Positive in opinion or judgment; absolutely certain, overconfident, unwilling to hear any debate or argument (especially in a pejorative sense); dogmatic. [from 16th c.]
    • 2003, Andrew Marr, The Guardian, 6 Jan 03:
      He marched under a placard reading "End Bossiness Now" but decided it was a little too peremptory, not quite British, so changed the slogan on subsequent badges, to "End Bossiness Soon."
  3. (obsolete) Firmly determined, resolute; obstinate, stubborn. [16th-18th c.]
  4. Accepting no refusal or disagreement; imperious, dictatorial. [from 17th c.]
    • 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald, “chapter I”, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, OCLC 884653065:
      [] less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book. Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.
    • 1999, Anthony Howard, The Guardian, 2 Jan 99:
      Though today (surveying that yellowing document) I shudder at the peremptory tone of the instructions I gave, Alastair - in that same volume in which I get chastised for my coverage of the Macmillan rally - was generous enough to remark that my memorandum became 'an office classic'.

Translations

Noun

peremptory (plural peremptories)

  1. (law) A challenge to the admission of a juror, without the challenger needing to show good cause.
    • 2015 June 18, Justice Alito, Davis v. Ayala, Case No. 13-1428:
      Each side was allowed 20 peremptories, and the prosecution used 18 of its allotment.

Anagrams

References

  • peremptory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913