summons (n.)

  1. a request to be present; they came at his bidding

    [ Syn: bidding ]

  2. an order to appear in person at a given place and time

  3. a writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendants attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant

    [ Syn: process ]

    summons (v.)

  1. call in an official matter, such as to attend court

    [ Syn: summon , cite ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.