petitioner

noun

pe·​ti·​tion·​er pə-ˈti-sh(ə-)nər 

plural petitioners

: one who makes, submits, or signs a petition

The lost children had not been found. Public prayers had been offered up for them, and many and many a private prayer that had the petitioner's whole heart in it; but still no good news came from the cave.

—Mark Twain

The high court held that when a petition charges an official with violating the law, the petitioners must at least have knowledge of facts which indicate an intent to commit an unlawful act.

—The National Law Journal

The petitioner contended that the taking of the blood sample and the admission of the test results violated his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination …

—Raymond P. Ward

… the draft of the proposed petition was read at length: and the petition said, as all petitions DO say, that the petitioners were very humble, and the petitioned very honourable, and the object very virtuous; therefore (said the petition) the bill ought to be passed into a law at once …

—Charles Dickens

Included in Wednesday's court filing was a petition signed by more than 500 area residents. The petitioners ask that Johnson "be shown mercy and not subjected to a jail term" because he has lost so much due to the conviction.

—Michael Smith

Synonyms of petitioner

• solicitor
• pleader
• requester
• beggar
• suppliant

Examples of petitioner in a Sentence

the lottery winner was beset by a horde of petitioners, all of whom thought that they were most deserving of his charity

Recent Examples on the Web

The petitioners filed as an exhibit an email obtained through a public records request that was sent by Burke’s former spokesman Matt McGrath to other county officials in August of last year. —Madeline Buckley, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026

The law, which takes effect July 1, will require courts to keep records of petitions for a legal name change from public view if the petitioner is younger than 18 at the time of filing. —Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026

Nationwide, asylum status was granted to 497 petitioners in February out of 18,913 applications, a 2% success rate. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Apr. 2026

The petitioner has framed the issue as one of religious liberty and freedom of speech. —Garrard Conley, Time, 18 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for petitioner

• commissioner
• conditioner
• parishioner
• positioner
• practitioner
• missioner