Miscarriage

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Miscarriage \Mis*car"riage\, n.
     1. Unfortunate event or issue of an undertaking; failure to
        attain a proper or desired result or reach a destination;
        as, a serious miscarriage of justice.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              When a counselor, to save himself,
              Would lay miscarriages upon his prince. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Ill conduct; evil or improper behavior; as, the failings
        and miscarriages of the righteous. --Rogers.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The act of bringing forth a child before the time it is
        viable; a premature birth, resulting in death of the
        fetus; spontaneous abortion.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  miscarriage
       n 1: failure of a plan [syn: {abortion}]
       2: a natural loss of the products of conception [syn: {spontaneous
          abortion}, {stillbirth}] [ant: {live birth}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "miscarriage":
     abortion, abortive attempt, breakdown, clerical error, collapse,
     corrigendum, defeat, dud, erratum, error, failing, failure, fault,
     faute, frustration, human error, merry chase, misapprehension,
     miscalculation, miscarrying, misconception, miscount, misdeal,
     misfire, misidentification, misjudgment, mismanagement, misplay,
     misprint, misquotation, misreport, miss, misstatement, mistake,
     misunderstanding, misuse, typo, typographical error, vain attempt,
     wet squib, wild-goose chase
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MISCARRIAGE, med. jurisp. By this word is technically understood the 
  expulsion of the ovum or embryo from the uterus within the first six weeks 
  after conception; between that time and before the expiration of the sixth 
  month, when the child may possibly live, it is termed abortion. When the 
  delivery takes place soon after the sixth month, it is denominated premature 
  labor. But the criminal act of destroying the foetus at any time before 
  birth, is termed in law, procuring miscarriage. Chit. Med. Jur. 410; 2 
  Dunglison's Human Physiology, 364. Vide Abortion; Foetus. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MISCARRIAGE, contracts, torts. By the English statute of frauds, 29, C. 
  II., c. 3, s. 4, it is enacted that "no action shall be brought to charge 
  the defendant upon any special promise to answer for the debt, default, or 
  miscarriage of another person, unless the agreement," &c. "shall be in 
  writing," &c. The word miscarriage, in this statute comprehends that species 
  of wrongful act, for the consequences of which the law would make the party 
  civilly responsible. The wrongful riding the horse of another, without his 
  leave or license, and thereby causing his death, is clearly an act for which 
  the party is responsible in damages, and therefore, falls within the meaning 
  of the word miscarriage. 2 Barn. & Ald. 516; Burge on Sur. 21.