Black's Law Dictionary

A false or fictitious defense, interposed in bad fnith, and manifestly untrue, insufficient, or irrelevant on its face.

See Plea.

A portion of anything. When a whole is divided into shares, they are not necessarily equal. In the law of corporations and joint-stock companies, a share is a definite portion of t

In equal shares or proportions.

A share-certificate is an instrument under the seal of the company, certifying that the person therein named is entitled to a certain number of shares; it is pnma facte evidence of

In the strict sense of the term, a "shareholder" is a person who has agreed to become a member of a corporation or company, and with respect to whom all the required formalities ha

A share-warrant to bearer is a warrant or certificate under the seal of the company, stating that the bearer of the warrant is entitled to a certain number or amount of fully paid

A "sharp" clause in a mortgage or other security (or the whole instrument described as "sharp") is one which empowers the creditor to take prompt and summary action upon defauit in

A customary gift of corn, which, at every Christmas, the farmers in some parts of England give to their smith for sharpening their plow-irons, harrow-tines, etc. Blount.

In Hindu law. The instrument of government or instruction; any book of instructions, particularly containing Divine ordinances. Wharton.

While "shave" is sometimes used to denote the act of obtaining the property of another by oppression and extortion, it may be used in an innocent sense to denote the buying of exis

In old English law. A wood. Co. Litt. 4b.

Soldiers. CowelL

A riding, tithing or division in the Isle of Man, where the whole island is divided into six sheadings, in cach of which there is a coroner or chief constable appointed by a delive

A wether more than a year old. Rex v. Birket, 4 Car. & P. 216.

Small plots of pasture, in England, often in the middle of the waste of a manor, of which the soil may or may not be in the lord, but the pasture is private property, and leased or

A service turned into money, which was paid in respect that anciently the tenants used to wash the lord's sheep. Wharton.

A deed; so called from the parchment it was written on.

A right of sheep-walk is the same thing as a fold-course, (q. v.) Elton, Commons, 44.

The body of the lordship of Cærdiff in South Wales, excluding the members of it. Powel, Hist. Wales, 123.

In American law. The chief executive and administrative officer of a county, being chosen by popular election. His principal duties are in aid of the criminal courts and civll cour

The time of a man's being sheriff. Cowell. The term of a sheriff's offico.

The clerk of the sheriff's court in Scotland.

In Scotch law. The principal sheriff of a county, who is also a judge.

The court heid bsfore the sheriff's deputy, that is, the under-sheriff, and wherein actions are brought for recovery of debts under £20. Writs of inquiry are also brought here to b

In practice. A jury composed of no determinate number, but which may be more or less than twelve, summoned by the sheriff for the purposes of an inquisition or inquest of office. 3

A sale of property, conducted by a sheriff, or sheriff's deputy, in virtue of his authority as an officer holding process.

A court of record in England, held twice every year, within a month after Easter and Michaelmas, before the sheriff, in different parts of the county. It is, indeed, only the turn

In English law. A tenure by the service of providing entertainment for the sheriff at his county-courts; a common tax, formerly levied for the sheriff's diet. Wharton.

The jurisdiction of a sheriff. Called, in modern law, "bailiwick." The office of a sheriff.

A rent formerly paid by & sheriff, and it is prayed that the sheriff in his account may be discharged thereof. Rot. Pari. 50 Edw. III.

A word used by the authorities of the Homan Church, to specify contemptuously the technical parts of the law, as administered by non-clerical lawyers. Wharton.

In the practice of the English high court, when a view by a jury is ordered, persons are named by the court to show the property to be viewed, and are hence called "shewers." There

In English law. To be quit of attachment in a court, in plaints shewed and not avowed. Obsolete.

Changing; varying; passing from one person to another by substitution. "Shifting the burden of proof" is transferring it from one party to the other or from one side of the case to

A shifting clause in a settlement is a clause by which some other mode of devolution is substituted for that primarily prescribed. Examples of shifting clauses are; The ordinary na

In insurance, a risk created by a contract of insurance on a stock of merchandise, or other similar property, which is kept for sale, or is subject to change in items by purchase a

See Severalty.

An express trust which ls so settled that it may operate in favor of beneficiaries additional to, or substituted for, those first named upon specified contingencies. Civ. Code Ga.

See Use.

In English law. The name of an English coin, of the value of one-twentieth part of a pound. This denomination of money was also used in America, in colonial times, but was not ever

Formerly, a Jocose term for a bank-note greatly depreciated in value; alao for paper money of a denomination less than a dollar. Webster. See Madison Ins. Co. v. Forsythe, 2 Ind. 4

n. A vessel of any kind employed in navigation. In a more restricted and more technical sense, a three-masted vessel navigated with sails. The term "ship" or "shipping," when used

In Scotch law. The offense of breaking into a ship. Arkley, 461.

An agent for the transaction of business between shipowners and charterers or those who ship cargoes. Little Rock v. Barton, 33 Ark. 444

This is a term of extensive import, and includes everything necessary to furnish and equip a vessel, so as to render her seaworthy for the intended voyage. Not only stores, stoves,

In rivers, harbors, etc., the channel in which the water is deep enough for vessels of large size, usually marked out in harbors by buoys. The Oliver (D. Ct) 22 Fed. 848.

In the charter-parties with the English East India Company, these words occur. Their meaning is, damage from negligence, insufficiency, or bad stowage in the ship. Abb. Shipp. 204.

In English law. An imposition formerly levied on port-towns and other places for fitting out ships; revived by Charles I, and abolished in the same reign. 17 Car. I. c. 14,

This term, in common maritime and commercial usage, means "placed on board of a vessel for the purchaser or consignee, to be transported at hls risk." Fisher v. Minot, 10 Gray (Mas

1. The owner of goods who intrusts them on board a vessel for delivery abroad, by charter-party or otherwise, 2. Also, a Dutch word, signifying the master of a ship. It Is mentione

Ships in general; ships or vessels of any kind intended for navigation. Relating to ships; as, shipping interest, shipping affairs, shipping business, shipping concerns. Putting on

A written agreement between the master of a vessel and the mariners, specifying the voyage or term for which the latter are shipped, and the rate of wages.

An officer of the United States, appointed by the several circuit courts, within their respective jurisdictions, for each port of entry (the same being also a port of ocean navigat

The copy of the bili of lading retained by the master is calied the "ship's hill." It is not authoritative as to the terms of the contract of affreightment; the bill delivered to t

A term embracing all the officers of the ship, as well as the mariners or common seamen, but not a passenger. U. S. v. Libby, 26 Fed. Cas. 928; U. S. v. Winn. 28 Fed. Cas. 735

In maritime law. A person appointed by the several part-owners of a ship, and usually one of their number, to manage the concerns of the ship for the common benefit. Generally unde

The papers which must be carried by a vessel on a voyage, in order to furnish evidence at her national character, the nafure and destination of the cargo, and of compliance with th

The demolition or shattering of a vessel, caused by her driving ashore or on rocks and shoals in the midseas or by the violence of winds and waves in tempests. 2 Arn. Ins. p. 734.

In English law. A county. So called because every county or shire is divided and parted by certain metes and bounds from another. Co. Litt. 50a. —Kuights of the shire. See Knight.

He that keeps the county court. -Shire-man, or Scvre-man. Before the Conquest, the judge of the county, by whom trials for land, etc., were determined. Tomlins; Mozley & Whitley.

The assize of the shire, or the assembly of the people, was so called by the Saxons. It was nearly if not exactly, the same as the scyregemote, and in most respects corresponded wi

In Saxon law. The reeve or bailiff of the shire. The viscount of the Anglo-Normans, and the sheriff of later times. Co. Litt. 168a.

In medical jurisprudent. A sudden and severe depression of the vital functions, pactlcniarly of the nerves and the circulation, due to the nervous exhaustion following trauma, surg

In Mohammedan law. Preemption. or a power of possessing property which has been sold, by paying a sum equal to that paid by the purchaser. Wharton.

A building in which goods and merchandise are Bold at retail or where mechanica work, and sometimes keep their products for sale. See State v. Morgan, 98 N. C. 641, 3 S. E. 927; St

In old records, a shop. Cowell.

Books of original entry kept by tradesmen, shop-keepers, mechanics, and the like, in which are entered their accounts and charges for goods sold, work done, etc.

Land on the margin of the sea or a lake or river. In common parlance, the word "shore" is understood to mean the line that separates the tide-water from the land about it, wherever

A cause which ls not likely to occupy a great portion of the time of the court, and which may be entered on the list of "short causes," upon the application of one of the parties,

A custom of bankers of entering on the customer's pass-book the amount of notes deposited for collection, in such a manner that the amount is not carried to the latter's general ba

An old custom of the city of Exeter. A mode of foreclosing the right of a tenant by the chief lord of the fee, in cases of non-payment of rent. Cowell.

A term applied colloquially, but without much precision, to a lease for a short term, (as a month or a year,) as distinguished from one running for a long period.

In practice. Notice of less than the ordinary time; generally of half that time, 2 Tidd, Pr. 757.

A process, authorised in seme of the states, to be issued against an absconding, fraudulent or nonresident debtor, which is returnable within a less number of days than an ordinary

Although the words "show" and "indicate" are sometimes interchangeable in popular use, they are not always so. To "show" is to make apparent or clear by evidence; to prove; while a

To show cause against a rule nisi, an order, decree, execution, etc., is to appear ad directed, and present to the court such reasons and considerations as one has to offer why it

The office of sheriff; the period of that office.

A "pettifogging shyster" is an unscrupulous practitioner who disgraces his profession by doing mean work, and resorts to sharp practice to do it. Bailey v. Kalamazoo Pub. Co., 40 M

Lat. The conclusion of a plea to an action when the defendant demands judgment, if the plaintiff ought to have his action, etc. Obsolete.

If you depart from the law, you will go astray, and all things will be uncertain to everybody. Co. Litt 227b.

If there is a partnership in any matter, and the business is ended, the partnership ceases. Griswold v. Waddington, 16 Johns. (N. Y.) 438, 489.

If any one of certain required forms be wanting, where equity requires, it will bq aided. 1 Kent, Comm. 157. The want of some of a neutral vessel's papers is strong presumptive evi

Lat. If he knows anything; lf he is not altogether devoid of reason.

If you can be relieved by accustomed remedies, new ones should not be tried. 10 Coke, 142b. If an old wall can be repaired, a new one should not be made. Id.

Sax. A relative or kinsman. Used in the Scotch tongue, but not now in English.

Lat. Thus; so; in such manner.

Every one ought so to improve his land as not to injure his neighbor's. 3 Kent, Conun. 441. A rule of the Roman law.

A little current of water, which is dry in summer; a water furrow or gutter. Cowell.

3 Inst. 80. [A statute] is to be so interpreted that the words may be token with effect.

A sort of money current among the ancient English, of the value of 2d.

Discase; malady; any morbid condition-of the body (including insanity) which, for the time being, hinders or prevents the organs from normally discharging their several functions.

Lat If It be certain who is the person meant.

Lat If It happen. Words of condition in old conveyances. 10 Coke, 42a.

Lat. In Scotch practice. So it is subscribed. Formal words at the end of depositions, immedlately preceding the signature. 1 How. State Tv. 1379.

Lat. As at another time or heretofore. This was a second writ sent out when the first was not executedCowell.

Use your own property in such a manner as not to injure that of another. 9 Coke, 59; 1 BL Comm. 306; Broom, Max. 365.

Lat So help me God. Fleta, 1. 1, c. 18, § 4.

Co. Litt. 238. In the same way as nature does nothing by a bound, so neither does the law.

The same court is sometimes said to have different sides; that is, different provinces or fields of jurisdiction. Thus, an admiralty court may have an "instance side," distinct fro