Abatement

Abatement. (1) The beating down or removing of any nuisance or illegal obstruction. (2) The quashing or judicial defeat of legal proceedings. known as Abatement of Actions, as when a writ is overthrown by some fatal exception taken to it in court; pleas designed to this effect are termed Pleas in Abatement; all dilatory pleas are considered pleas in abatement. (3) The suspense of legal proceedings on death of an essential party, or on change of interest necessitating the substitution of some new party. (4) Of Freehold. Forcible entry of a stranger into an inheritance, before the heir or devisee can take possession. (5) Reductions made in legacies or annuities when the estate is not sufficient; to pay in full. (6) The discount allowed for cash payment, and the deduction made for damages or loss in warehouses by the Customs House. (7) In Heraldry, a mark on an escutcheon denoting some dishonourable action on the part of the bearer.