Plea in abatement
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
In practice
A plea which goes to abate the plaintiff's action ; that is, to suspend or put it off for the present.
3. Bl. Comm. 301; Hurst v. Everett (C. C.) 21 Fed. 221; Wilson v. Winchester & P. R. Ch (C. C.) 82 Fed. 18; Middlebrook v. Ames, 5 Stew. & P. (Ala.) 166.