indict a ham sandwich
(intransitive, chiefly, US, criminal law, humorous, hyperbolic, idiomatic) Of a grand jury: to charge a person with a crime, despite a perceived lack of evidence.
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Born ~1930 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
(intransitive, chiefly, US, criminal law, humorous, hyperbolic, idiomatic) Of a grand jury: to charge a person with a crime, despite a perceived lack of evidence.
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Semantically related
- ham sandwich61%
(countable, US) Something utterly commonplace, of modest value.
- ham sandwich59%
(countable, rarely, uncountable) A sandwich made with ham.
- Allen charge57%
(US, legal) An instruction intended to prevent a hung jury by encouraging jurors in the minority to reconsider.
- idiot sandwich56%
(slang, derogatory) : a term of insult.
- indictable offence55%
(legal, British, Canadian, Australian, Hong Kong) An offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury, in contrast to a summary offence.