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set a precedent
Idioms and Phrases
Establish a usage, tradition, or standard to be followed in the future. For example, He set a precedent by having the chaplain lead the academic procession . The word precedent here signifies a previous instance or legal decision upon which future instances are based, a usage dating from the early 1400s. In British and American law it more specifically refers to a legal decision that may be used as a standard in subsequent cases.Example Sentences
But Hungary's criticism of the ICC as "politically biased" and its decision to withdraw as Netanyahu visits may set a precedent for other nations to question or abandon their commitments to international justice based on political alliances or disagreements with specific rulings.
If the judge rules in her favor, it may set a precedent for how AB 933 is applied in future defamation battles — particularly in Hollywood, where legal fights over reputational damage have grown increasingly common in the post-#MeToo era.
It's even louder this time since Benedict XVI set a precedent and stepped down in 2013, the first Pope to do so in six centuries.
A landmark case has already set a precedent: a New York-based doctor was criminally indicted in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pills to a patient in a state where abortion is banned.
“This was going to set a precedent. Investors wanted to see a high price here.”
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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