double jeopardy

noun

The act of trying someone twice for the same offense, especially after an acquittal in the first trial.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

double jeopardy1

noundouble jeopardy (uncountable)
  1. uncountablelawThe act of trying someone twice for the same offense, especially after an acquittal in the first trial.

    Should Mangione plead guilty in the federal case, his legal team could take steps to dismiss his state case on double jeopardy grounds.

    2026 August 13, Jonathan Dienst, Adam Reiss, Erica Byfield, Matt Lavietes, Chloe Atkins, “Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in New York federal case”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2026
    1 more example

    In the intervening years, the Costa Rican justice system (which has no double jeopardy law) has tried Ann Bender for murder on three separate occasions; of these, she was convicted once and acquitted twice.

    2025 October 8, Stuart Heritage, “‘Their chemistry made one of their deaths inevitable’: how a billionaire couple’s life in paradise turned deadly”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Double Jeopardy2

noun
  1. A round of questioning or other situation where the possible gains and/or losses from choices are magnified.

    We may now be ready for the Double Jeopardy round. Now for the next question

    2000 April, Edward Bear, The Seven Deadly Needs, Health Communications, pages 87–88
    2 more examples

    John McClane: Sorry Hans, wrong guess. Would you like to go for Double Jeopardy where the scores can really change?

    1988 July, Steven E. de Souza, Die Hard, 20th Century Fox

    Specifically, if after all this travel the application is inefficiently designed, the process gets into double jeopardy, where the scores can really change.

    1999, “Optimizing Network Traffic”, in Notes from the Field, volume 3, Microsoft Press

Origin

Named after an element of the quiz show Jeopardy!, in turn named for the legal concept double jeopardy.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 雙重追訴 /双重追诉, 一事不再理
  • 雙重追訴 /双重追诉 (shuāngchóng zhuīsù)trying someone twice for the same offense
  • 一事不再理 (yīshì bùzàilǐ)trying someone twice for the same offense
  • 一罪兩審 /一罪两审 (yīzuì liǎngshěn)trying someone twice for the same offense
Finnish uudelleen syyttäminen
  • uudelleen syyttäminentrying someone twice for the same offense
German nicht zweimal in derselben Sache, Doppelbestrafung
  • nicht zweimal in derselben Sachetrying someone twice for the same offense
  • Doppelbestrafungtrying someone twice for the same offense
Irish contúirt dhúbailte
  • contúirt dhúbailtetrying someone twice for the same offense
Japanese 一事不再理
  • 一事不再理 (ichijifusairi)trying someone twice for the same offense
Korean 일사부재리
  • 일사부재리 (ilsabujaeri)trying someone twice for the same offense
Latin ne bis in idem
  • ne bis in idemtrying someone twice for the same offense
Russian не два́жды за одно́ и то́ же
  • не два́жды за одно́ и то́ же (ne dváždy za odnó i tó že)trying someone twice for the same offense
Tagalog makalawang pagkasuong
  • makalawang pagkasuongtrying someone twice for the same offense
Cite this entry
APA

double jeopardy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20jeopardy

MLA

“double jeopardy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20jeopardy. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “double jeopardy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20jeopardy.

Source: double jeopardy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.