opening statements

A form of opening statement — In adversarial legal systems, a statement made by a party at the beginning of a trial or comparable factfinding proceeding, in which that party lays out their case, generally including the points of fact that they intend to demonstrate and to some degree indicating the rhetorical arguments for why they should prevail.

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Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of opening statement
Cite this entry
APA

opening statements. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20statements

MLA

“opening statements.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20statements. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opening statements,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opening%20statements.

Source: opening statements on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.