"Nothing vnder a Sub-pœna can dravv him to London, and vvhen hee is there, hee ſtickes faſt vppon euery obiect, caſts his eyes avvay vpon gazing, and becomes the prey of euery cut-purſe."
— 1612 (date written), Thomas Overburye [i.e. Thomas Overbury], “Characters, or Witty Descriptions of the Properties of Sundry Persons. A Country Gentleman.”, in A Wife Now the Widdow of Sir Thomas Overburye. Being a Most Exquisite and Singular Poem of the Choice of a Wife. […], London: […] [Edward Griffin] for Lawrence Lisle, […], published 1614, →OCLC, signature [E4], recto:
"For the worthy magistrate, determined to omit no chance of doing Effie justice, and to leave her sister no apology for not giving the evidence which she was supposed to possess, had caused the ordinary citation, or sub-pœna, of the Scottish criminal court, to be served upon her by an officer during his conference with David."
— 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 181:
""Samuel Weller?" said Mr. Jackson, enquiringly. "Vun o' the truest things as you've said for many a long year," replied Sam, in a most composed manner. "Here's a subpœna for you, Mr. Weller," said Jackson. […] Mr. Jackson seemed rather puzzled by Sam's proceedings; but, as he had served the subpœnas, and had nothing more to say, he made a feint of putting on the one glove which he usually carried in his hand, for the sake of appearances; and returned to the office to report progress."
— 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Which is All about the Law, and Sundry Great Authorities Learned therein”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, pages 318–319:
""He won't be waging wars all the world – he'll be waging 'warsuits,'" Noah said. "Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe.""
— 2016 October 26, David Moye, “Trevor Noah: If Trump is Elected, He’ll Wage ‘Warsuits’”, in Huffington Post, New York, N.Y.: Verizon Media:
"I hereby request that the committee hold the subpoena in abeyance and delay any vote on whether to recommend a citation of contempt for noncompliance with the subpoena, pending the president's determination of this question."
— 2019 May 7, Nicholas Fandos, Charlie Savage, Catie Edmondson; Maggie Haberman, quoting Stephen Elliott Boyd, “Justice Dept. threatens House Democrats over contempt in Barr battle”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2023: