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Glite Dictionary
Clarence Darrow

Clarence Darrow

4 8.6
A United States lawyer known for defending unpopular or hopeless cases
  • proper noun
  • /ˈklærəns ˈdɛroʊ/
: Clarence Darrow
  • The famous lawyer Clarence Darrow defended John Scopes in the Scopes Trial.

Examples

  • Known for his passionate arguments, Clarence Darrow once famously defended a teacher accused of teaching evolution.

  • Many legal scholars still study the strategies used by Clarence Darrow in his most famous cases.

  • During the trial, Clarence Darrow eloquently defended his client against overwhelming odds.

  • The novel features a character inspired by Clarence Darrow and his relentless pursuit of justice.

  • Did Clarence Darrow really say that he would rather be tried by twelve than carried by six?

  • In his career, Clarence Darrow took on many controversial cases that challenged social norms.

  • The defense strategies of Clarence Darrow are still taught in law schools around the country.

Surface Forms

Clarence Darrow main

Morphology

Clarence + Darrow

This is a proper name composed of two personal names; knowing the isolated words 'Clarence' and 'Darrow' does not allow a learner to infer the referent or the biographical meaning ('United States lawyer renowned for...'). Identification requires world/cultural knowledge or context rather than compositional semantics, so a B1 learner would not be able to derive the meaning from the constituents.

Etymology

Clarence Darrow comes from a real American lawyer who in the early 1900s often defended people and causes that others avoided. Because he took hopeless cases and argued passionately, his name now stands for someone who 'defends the unpopular' or 'fights for justice'.