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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
acquittal
noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Leckie told reporters he hoped his acquittal would give hope to other people in similar situations.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But it is virtually unthinkable that it could end in an acquittal, still less a mistrial.
▪ However, conflicting opinions of several doctors gained their acquittal.
▪ It is by no means certain that the courts would always be willing to redefine the mens rea requirement in order to secure an acquittal.
▪ Leckie told reporters he hoped his acquittal would send a message of hope to the Governor.
▪ Of 52 prosecutions for police brutality, 46 ended in acquittals.
▪ Simpson has said so repeatedly since his acquittal in the case.
▪ So what message was Leckie hoping Fife would get from his acquittal?
▪ With regard to acquittal rates in the magistrates' courts, our data are too uncertain to draw firm conclusions as they are incomplete.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Acquittal

Acquittal \Ac*quit"tal\, n.

  1. The act of acquitting; discharge from debt or obligation; acquittance.

  2. (Law) A setting free, or deliverance from the charge of an offense, by verdict of a jury or sentence of a court.
    --Bouvier.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
acquittal

early 15c., "payment of debt or retribution;" see acquit + -al (2). Sense of "a release from debt or obligation" is from mid-15c.; that of "freeing from charge or offense" (by legal process) is from 1530s.

Wiktionary
acquittal

n. 1 (context now rare English) The act of fulfilling the duties (of a given role, obligation etc.). (from 15th c.) 2 (context legal English) A legal decision that someone is not guilty with which they have been charged, or the formal dismissal of a charge by some other legal process. (from 15th c.) 3 payment of a debt or other obligation; reparations, amends. (from 15th c.) 4 (context now historical English) The act of releasing someone from debt or other obligation; acquittance. (from 15th c.) 5 (context rare English) avoidance of danger; deliverance. (from 17th c.)

WordNet
acquittal

n. a judgment of not guilty [ant: conviction]

Wikipedia
Acquittal

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, under the rules of double jeopardy and autrefois acquit, an acquittal operates to bar the retrial of the accused for the same offense, even if new evidence surfaces that further implicates the accused. The effect of an acquittal on criminal proceedings is the same whether it results from a jury verdict, or whether it results from the operation of some other rule that discharges the accused. In other countries, the prosecuting authority may appeal an acquittal similar to how a defendant may appeal a conviction.

Usage examples of "acquittal".

But despite his acquittal the Latvian remained a dead Latvian and weighed on his mind like a ton of bricks, although he was said to have been a frail little man, afflicted with a stomach ailment to boot.

As soon as news of the acquittal came to us we rushed from our classes, drove in a horn-honking procession from school to Tug Hill Park, cars crammed with screaming kids--HEART acquittal CELEBRATED IN WILLVILLE, the Buffalo Evening News headline would read, above photo of Smoke Filer driving his T-Bird, our arms stuck out every like tentacles, fingers flashing the V-for-Victory sign.

In contrast, the additional income tax imposed when a fraudulent return is filed, was found to be a civil sanction designed to protect the revenue, which might be assessed after acquittal of the defendant for the same fraud.

This was a great gain for the aristocracy, since the offenses for which they were usually brought to trial, such as bribery, malversation, and the like, were so commonly practiced by the whole order, that they were, in most cases, nearly certain of acquittal from men who required similar indulgence themselves.

Somehow he got to Wally and gave him a thousand bucks, more or less, to vote acquittal.

Without these teeth the proof of the corpus delicti would have been incomplete, and so afforded Webster a fair chance of acquittal.

The instances are innumerable, where the defendant has pleaded that the deceased was an Irishman, and that therefore defendant had a right to kill him--and upon the proof of Hibernicism, acquittal followed of course.

This was a great gain for the aristocracy, since the offenses for which they were usually brought to trial, such as bribery, malversation, and the like, were so commonly practiced by the whole order, that they were, in most cases, nearly certain of acquittal from men who required similar indulgence themselves.

Even Nixon should understand, now, that the only hope for his salvation in the history books is to somehow become a martyr and the most obvious way to do that, at this point in the saga, is to make some kind of a deal with the heavies in his own party to get him off their backs as quickly as possible by trading the guarantee of a dignified resignation for a vote of acquittal in the Senate.

There is very little chance that he will finish his second term, but the odds for a scenario of impeachment in the House, acquittal in the Senate and then a maudlin spectacle of martyred resignation before January 20th of next year are pretty good.

Certainly, things would come to pass thus, and the acquittal would be carried with a high hand.

Since it has occurred to you--you who wish the acquittal of this poor boy--that the testimony of Madame Dammauville may be vitiated by the simple fact that it comes from a sick woman, it is incontestable, is it not, that this same idea will occur to those who wish for his conviction?

And all the opposing arguments that would be properly arranged if there were time, would be lacking, and we should carry the acquittal with a high hand.

Two people on that board voted for acquittal, which means there are two people on that board who will argue very strenuously for a light sentence.

She was his hope for acquittal and that meant she was a danger to somebody else.