action at law

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

action at law - a judicial proceeding brought by one party against another; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wronglegal action, actionantitrust case - a legal action brought against parties who are charged with limiting free competition in the market placecivil action - legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution)counterclaim - a claim filed in opposition to another claim in a legal actioncustody case - a legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce)lis pendens - a pending lawsuitlegal proceeding, proceeding, proceedings - (law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invokedcriminal prosecution, prosecution - the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behaviortest case, test suit - a representative legal action whose outcome is likely to become a precedentlaw, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"