public defender — n: a lawyer usu. holding public office who represents criminal defendants unable to pay for legal assistance Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. public defender … Law dictionary
public defender — public defenders N COUNT A public defender is a lawyer who is employed by a city or county to represent people who are accused of crimes but cannot afford to pay for a lawyer themselves. [AM] … English dictionary
public defender — ☆ public defender n. an attorney employed at public expense to defend indigent persons accused of crimes … English World dictionary
Public defender — For the 1931 film featuring Boris Karloff, see The Public Defender. Public Defenders offices in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with … Wikipedia
public defender — An attorney appointed by a court or employed by a government agency whose work consists primarily in defending indigent defendants in criminal cases. Federal Public Defender Organizations and Community Defender Organizations are provided for… … Black's law dictionary
public defender — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms public defender : singular public defender plural public defenders legal in the US, a lawyer who is paid by the government to defend people in court if they cannot pay for themselves … English dictionary
public defender — noun a lawyer who represents indigent defendants at public expense • Topics: ↑law, ↑jurisprudence • Hypernyms: ↑lawyer, ↑attorney * * * noun, pl ⋯ ers [count] US : a lawyer who is paid by the government to defend people who are accused of a crime … Useful english dictionary
public defender — public de fender n AmE a lawyer who is paid by the government to defend people in court, because they cannot pay for a lawyer themselves →↑district attorney … Dictionary of contemporary English
public defender — public de fender noun count in the U.S., a lawyer who is paid by the government to defend people in court if they cannot pay for themselves … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
public defender — a lawyer appointed or elected by a city or county as a full time, official defender to represent indigents in criminal cases at public expense. Cf. assigned counsel. [1915 20] * * * ▪ law attorney permanently employed by a government to… … Universalium
public defender — noun Date: 1918 a lawyer usually holding public office whose duty is to defend accused persons unable to pay for legal assistance … New Collegiate Dictionary