Irresistible impulse
Defined in 3 dictionaries — Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910)
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
The absence of sufficient mental power to choose between right and wrong. See 95 Me. 467, 55 L. R. A. 373, 50 Atl. 276.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
See Insanity.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Used chiefly in criminal law, this term means an impulse to commit an unlawful or criminal act which cannot be resisted or overcome by the patient because insanity or mental disease has destroyed the freedom of his will and his power of self-control and of choice as to his actions. See McCarty v. Com., 114 Ky. 620, 71 S. W. 658; State v. Knight, 95 Me. 467, 50 Atl. 276, 55 In R. A. 373; Leache v. State, 22 Tex. App. 279, 3 S. W. 539, 58 Am. Rep. 638; State v. Peel, 23 Mont. 358, 59 Pac. 169, 75 Am. St. Rep. 529. And see Insanity.