writ of inquiry

English

Noun

writ of inquiry (plural writs of inquiry)

  1. (law) A writ issued in certain actions at law, where the defendant has suffered judgment to pass against him by default, in order to ascertain and assess the plaintiff's damages, where they cannot readily be ascertained by mere calculation.
    • 1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
      Jeremy speaks like an Oracle. Don't you see how worthless great Men, and dull rich Rogues, avoid a witty Man of small Fortune? Why, he looks like a Writ of Enquiry into their Titles and Estates; and seems Commission'd by Heav'n to seize the better half.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “writ of inquiry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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