judge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice
    justice; jurist.
  2. noun an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality
    evaluator.
  3. verb determine the result of (a competition)
  4. verb form a critical opinion of
    evaluate; pass judgment.
    • I cannot judge some works of modern art
    • How do you evaluate this grant proposal?" "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people
  5. verb judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time)
    estimate; guess; gauge; approximate.
    • I estimate this chicken to weigh three pounds
  6. verb pronounce judgment on
    pronounce; label.
    • They labeled him unfit to work here
  7. verb put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of
    try; adjudicate.
    • The football star was tried for the murder of his wife
    • The judge tried both father and son in separate trials

WordNet

Judge noun
Etymology
OE. juge, OF. & F. juge, fr. OF. jugier, F. juger, to judge. See Judge, v. i.
Definitions
  1. (Law) A public officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
    The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct the evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or impertinency of speech; to recapitulate, select, and collate the material points of that which hath been said; and to give the rule or sentence. Bacon.
  2. One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or value of anything; one who discerns properties or relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an expert; a critic.
    A man who is no judge of law may be a good judge of poetry, or eloquence, or of the merits of a painting. Dryden.
  3. A person appointed to decide in atrial of skill, speed, etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge in a horse race.
  4. (Jewish Hist.) One of supreme magistrates, with both civil and military powers, who governed Israel for more than four hundred years.
  5. pl. The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament; the Book of Judges. Syn. -- Judge, Umpire, Arbitrator, Referee. A judge, in the legal sense, is a magistrate appointed to determine questions of law. An umpire is a person selected to decide between two or more who contend for a prize. An arbitrator is one chosen to allot to two contestants their portion of a claim, usually on grounds of equity and common sense. A referee is one to whom a case is referred for final adjustment. Arbitrations and references are sometimes voluntary, sometimes appointed by a court.
Judge intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. jugen, OF. jugier, F. juger, L. judicare, fr. judex judge; jus law or right + dicare to proclaim, pronounce, akin to dicere to say. See Just, a., and Diction, and cf. Judicial.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Judged ; present participle & verbal noun Judging
Definitions
  1. To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence.
    The Lord judge between thee and me. Gen. xvi. 5.
    Father, who art judge Of all things made, and judgest only right! Milton.
  2. To assume the right to pass judgment on another; to sit in judgment or commendation; to criticise or pass adverse judgment upon others. See Judge, v. t., 3.
    Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. Shak.
  3. To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about.
    Judge not according to the appearance. John vii. 24.
    She is wise if I can judge of her. Shak.
Judge transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a court, or a controversy between two parties. "Chaos [shall] judge the strife." Milton.
  2. To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.
    God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. Eccl. iii. 7.
    To bring my whole cause 'fore his holiness, And to be judged by him. Shak.
  3. To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment upon; to be censorious toward.
    Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matt. vii. 1.
  4. To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to reckon.
    If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord. Acts xvi. 15.
  5. To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern. Obs.
    Make us a king to judge us. 1 Sam. viii. 5.

Webster 1913