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To act as a patron of; to maintain; to defend. [Obs.] Shak.

An offender. [Obs.] Whitlock.

A house of correction, in which offenders are confined for punishment, discipline, and reformation, and in which they are generally compelled to labor.

-- Peremptory mandamus, a final and absolute mandamus. -- Peremptory plea, a plea by a defendant tending to impeach the plaintiff's right of action; a plea in bar.

etc. -- Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, etc. The crime is now not distinguished from murder.

A person cited to answer, or defend against, a petition.

suit; also (Scots Law), a suit wherein the plaintiff claims something as due him by the defendant. Burrill.

A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.

table boards erected on a post, and having holes through which the head and hands of an offender were thrust so as to be exposed in front of it. Shak.

To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to offend; to excite to anger. Pique her, and soothe in turn. Byron.

sonal action or suit to obtain a remedy for an injury to his rights; -- opposed to Ant: defendant.

stinguished from a demurrer; in a still more limited sense, and in modern practice, the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's declaration and demand. That which the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or justified by the defendant's plea. In chancery practice, a plea is a special answer showin…

To discuss, defend, and attempt to maintain by arguments or reasons presented to a tribunal or person having uthority to determine; to argue at the bar; as, to plead a cause before a court or jury. Every man should plead his own matter. Sir T. More.

The act of advocating, defending, or supporting, a cause by arguments.

The mutual pleas and replies of the plaintiff and defendant, or written statements of the parties in support of their claims, proceeding from the declaration of the plaintiff, until issue is joined, and the question made to rest on some single point. Blackstone.

To keep or save from injury or destruction; to guard or defend from evil, harm, danger, etc.; to protect. O Lord, thou preserved man and beast. Ps. xxxvi. 6. Now, good angels preserve the king. Shak.

One who, or that which, preserves, saves, or defends, from destruction, injury, or decay; esp., one who saves the life or character of another. Shak.

To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.

A sham dealer; one who colludes with a defendant in a sham prosecution.

l, from the beginning to the end of the suit; strictly, the means used for bringing the defendant into court to answer to the action; -- a generic term for writs of the class called judicial. Deacon's process Etym: [from H. Deacon, who introduced it] (Chem.), a method of obtaining chlorine gas by passing hydrochloric a…