in the dock
4
8.4
- idiom
- UK
:
en el banquillo
- The defendant stood nervously in the dock as the jury entered the courtroom.
- stand in the dock
- sit in the dock
- in the dock on trial
And so when they stood up in the dock, I could understand them.
- And so when they stood up in the dock, I could understand them.
- Yeah, Dave's upstairs in the public gallery shagging his missus whilst I'm in the dock.
- It nearly broke my heart just to hear her voice right now I'm the villain in the dock, right?
- Forget about the Mac V trial when that girl, because we're sitting in the dock together, she's the one convicting us.
- What happens when the government has you and its crosshairs and you're the one in the dock?
- When you was in the dock and you were being cross examined, was there any stage where you felt like you were on trial?
- I didn't have a clue who they were, but I was standing in the dock with them when they had me in handcuffs.
- Because I know men that are stood from stood in the dock.
Examples
-
An NHS trust and local council have found themselves in the dock over significant failings around asbestos control.
Academic text (2015) -
I can see myself in the dock.
-
Yes, like a man in the dock.
-
My Lord, it is not I but the government that should be put in the dock.
-
Put us in the dock and we'll prove it.
Fiction book (2000) -
And so when they stood up in the dock, I could understand them.
-
The boy in the dock, Your Worship.
-
But the tribunal does say that the men in the dock are responsible for their actions.
-
I wonder if those men in the dock can really be responsible for the things he listed in the indictment.
-
Kings, prime ministers, archbishops, even barristers have stood in the dock.
Synonyms
2
3.6
A person officially charged with a crime in court
Antonyms
How Accused
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'in' marks location and 'the dock' (given here as the area in court reserved for the accused) denotes a place, so the overall meaning 'being in the position of an accused person/on trial' is directly derivable from the constituents. A B1 learner who knows these constituent senses can infer the MWE meaning, although it is somewhat register-specific (legal/British).
Etymology
In the dock comes from old courtrooms where a person who was accused sat in a small, raised box called the dock to face the judge and other people. Being literally in the dock meant you were 'on trial' or 'accused', so today the phrase means being blamed or under strong public or legal criticism.