to clear the court
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To remove all strangers, or persons not officially concerned in the suit.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to clear the court” mean?
To remove all strangers, or persons not officially concerned in the suit.
Is “to clear the court” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.