Special Plea
Defined in 2 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Black's (1910)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
A plea which alleged matter to distinguish away or palliate the charge in the declaration. They were various, limitations and estoppel being examples of matters so to be pleaded.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
A special kind of plea in bar, distinguished by this name from the general issue, and consisting usually of some new affirmative matter, though it may also be in the form of a traverse or denial. See Steph. PI. 52, 162; Allen v. New Haven & N. Co., 49 Co.nn. 245.
Defined under Plea in Black's Law Dictionary.