How to use summons in a sentence

25 example sentences · noun, verb

Summons means a call to do something, especially to come. Example: “I've received a summons for jury duty. It says I serve one day or one trial.”

Examples of summons by meaning

nounA call to do something, especially to come.

It was more than a week after his introduction to Carrados that Lieutenant Hollyer had a summons to present himself at The Turrets again.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados

nounA notice summoning someone to appear in court, as a defendant, juror or witness.

Four summonses were brought recently on behalf of St.1955 December, “Emission of Smoke by Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 812

verbTo serve someone with a summons.

It proposes that those held in the prototype Selfridges cells be kept for a maximum of four hours to have their identity confirmed and be charged, summonsed or given a fine.2007 March 15, The Guardian, page 1

More sentences with summons

I've received a summons for jury duty. It says I serve one day or one trial.From the entry serve
He excurred to the tintinnabular summons alacritously.From the entry tintinnabular
The writ of summons was endorsed with the nature of a claim, the cause thereof, and of the relief sought in the action.From the entry endorse
I have a summons for him direct from the galactic emperor herself.2016, Commander Pakydus, Sindbad & the 7 Galaxies. From the entry emperor
Zuckerberg must constantly leap to and fro throughout the centuries in order to duck summonses.2011, Travis Harmon, Jonathan Shockley, “Introduction”, in Let There Be Facebook: Status Updates from God, Gaga, and Everyone in between…. From the entry timescape
One who summons communication from the dead, who make knocking sounds from the world beyond.”2010, Terry C. Johnston, Dance on the Wind. From the entry queersome
On 8 and 10 May his forespeaker had been protesting against the relevancy of the error summons.2009, Andrew Mark Godfrey, Civil Justice in Renaissance Scotland: The Origins of a Central Court. From the entry forespeaker
He’d been sure he’d get one of her countessly summonses the evening following their midnight drive.2000, Stephanie Laurens, A Secret Love, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 193. From the entry countessly
Warrant officers execute warrants whilst process servers distribute court summonses and cajole debtors.1973, Paul Rock, Making People Pay, page 162. From the entry warrant officer
“Needs must,” and the haughty summons of Britain rings even in the impregnable heart of Thibet.1905, The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society, page 199. From the entry needs must
The clang of the bell, as the corner was neared, seemed to act as a summons.1901, Temple Bar, page 400. From the entry swirr
Other than the standard isekai trope like harems and overpoweredness, it was very unique in that the main protagonist summons boats.2025 September 22 – December 20, Ed Gomez, “The Quest for the Luxury Liner: Seize the Rich Life with a Ship-Summoning Skill in Another…. From the entry overpoweredness
Our daughter's name, Rebecca, summons up similar visions.1997, Robert T. Tauber, Self-fulfilling Prophecy, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 61. From the entry Rebecca
He arched his eyebrows over the summons.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html)…. From the entry earthly
He expected that this summons would be another false alarm.1905, Fergus Hume, chapter 6, in The Secret Passage. From the entry false alarm
One might suppose that this flood of summonses caused consternation.1904, Claude Hazeltine Wetmore, chapter IV, in The Battle Against Bribery: Being the Only Complete Narrative of Joseph W. Folk's Warfare…. From the entry boodler
It summons them rather to participate in the life of Christ through the transformative power of the liturgy and sacraments of the church.2002, Todd Speidell, On Being a Person, page 98. From the entry theopoesis
Philadelphia private eye (why fare so far?) gets summons from New Hampshire village to trail female tagged for aunticide; chase takes in Florida, Panama.1966, Saturday Review, page 40, column 3. From the entry aunticide
"He's lucky to have a summons.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html)…. From the entry earthly
My favourite fighter summons a whirling sword that she can teleport to, while her ultimate makes her leap into the air and do three huge, anime-sized purple slashes.2021 August 16, Matt Cox, “Naraka: Bladepoint review: a punishing battle royale that rewards perseverance”, in Rock Paper Shotgun…. From the entry breast boobily
Information hath been laid this day, as summonses say, that not all the recipients of the British Telecom staff newspaper Telecom Today, are pleased to get it.1981 April 9, “Ariadne”, in New Scientist, page 136. From the entry trouble at mill
As someone did not appear with the instantaneity of a jack-in-the-box, he proceeded to repeat the summons, interspersing it with an occasional "I say!" shouted through the letter-box.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry I say

Meaning of summons

noun A call to do something, especially to come.
noun A notice summoning someone to appear in court, as a defendant, juror or witness.
noun A demand for surrender.

Full definition of summons

Questions about summons in a sentence

How do you use summons in a sentence?: Summons is used as a noun and verb. For example: “I've received a summons for jury duty. It says I serve one day or one trial.”
What is a short sentence with summons?: “"He's lucky to have a summons.”
What does summons mean?: Summons means a call to do something, especially to come.

Adapted from Wiktionary: summons (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use summons in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/summons. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.