counterplea

American  

[koun-ter-plee] / ˈkaʊn tərˌpli /

noun

Law.

1. an answering plea, as a plaintiff's response to a defendant's plea.

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Etymology

Origin of counterplea

First recorded in 1555–65; counter- + plea

Example Sentences

Few were the businessmen who made a counterplea for the privilege of price cutting.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the two maverick churches took legal action to keep their property�valued at $150,000�the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. entered a counterplea on behalf of the denomination.

From Time Magazine Archive

The summons was issued four times, after which, if the accused did not appear, he lost the right of counterplea, or was nonsuited.

From Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by Jacob, P. L.

But his counterplea when it came was of a disconcerting briefness and potency.

From The Collectors by Mather, Frank Jewett

This canon was adopted and explained by an English statute of 1276; and bigamy, therefore, became a usual counterplea to the claim of benefit of clergy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various