to submit an affidavit
- phrasal verb
- /səbˈmɪt ən ˌæfɪˈdeɪvɪt/
- Formal
- If you want to take legal action, you must submit an affidavit outlining the details of the incident.
Examples
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He submitted an affidavit during the SCA case saying that LeMond's allegations were made up.
Blog text (13) -
Potential winners must submit an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability, and Prize Acceptance Form within seven (7) business days of attempted notification.
Blog text (28) -
Dworkin didn't submit an affidavit for Lowell's ex-wife.
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Kane submitted an affidavit by a court deputy who escorted a diabetic juror from the courthouse after the deliberations, the story says.
Blog text (19) -
The lawyer advised her to submit an affidavit to support her claims in the ongoing lawsuit.
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He decided to submit an affidavit confirming his alibi to the court before the trial began.
Synonyms
To officially give a document to a court or other authority
To say officially in court what you saw or know
To give a form or application for someone to consider
To officially confirm that something is true, often in court
To give a formal statement while promising to tell the truth
To give a formal statement under oath, often in writing
Antonyms
How Formal
- Formal
- Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'submit' (to hand over/present) plus 'an affidavit' (a sworn written statement) yields 'formally present a sworn statement'. The article 'an' is functionally irrelevant, and the construction follows straightforward verb + noun collocation common across languages, so a learner who knows the constituents would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Submit an affidavit comes from the simple image of handing a sworn paper to a court: to submit means to give something to an authority, and an affidavit is a written promise where you swear 'to tell the truth'. So it means 'to give a written, sworn statement for a legal case'.