Perch — Law Dictionary

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

The length of sixteen feet and a half; a pole or rod of that length. Forty perches in length and four in breadth make an acre of land.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia

John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914

The length of sixteen feet and a half; a pole or rod of that length. Forty perches in length and four in breadth make an acre of land.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

A measure of land containing five yards and a half or sixteen feet and a half in length; otherwise called a "rod" or "pole," Cowell. An a unit of solid measure, a perch of masonry or stone or brick work contains, according to some authorities and in some localities, sixteen and one-half cubic feet, but elsewhere, or according to others, tweuty-flva. Uniess defined by statute, it is a very indefinite term and must be explained by evidence. See Baldwin Quarry Co. v. Clements, 38 Ohio SL 587; Harris v. Rutledge, 19 Iowa, 388, 87 Am. Dec. 441; Sullivan v. Richardson, 33 Fla. 1, 14 South. 692; Wood v. Vermont Cent R. Ch, 24 Vt 608.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States

John Bouvier · 1839

measure. The length of sixteen feet and a half: a pole or rod of that length. Forty perches in length and four in breadth make Engl. law. A pardon for a man who for contempt in not yielding obedience to the process of the king’s courts, is outlawed, and afterwards, of his own accord, surrenders.