nuisance

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nuisance

nuisance in law, an act that, without legal justification, interferes with safety, comfort, or the use of property. A private nuisance (e.g., erecting a wall that shuts off a neighbor's light) is one that affects one or a few persons, while a public nuisance (e.g., conducting a disorderly house) affects many persons. In some cases the victim of a private nuisance may abate it (e.g., tear down the wall). Damages are available to a party who suffers from a private nuisance or who is especially injured by a public nuisance, and courts will issue injunctions against continuing nuisances. Since public nuisances are injurious to the community, they may be prosecuted as crimes. Nuisance is a flexible legal category. Thus, while a slaughterhouse is lawful in a manufacturing district, it may be a nuisance in a residential quarter. Activities, such as operating blast furnaces, once deemed nuisances, are now recognized as indispensable and lawful.

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nuisance

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

nuisance injury, harm XV; injurious or obnoxious thing XV; source of annoyance XIX. — OF. (now arch.) nuisance hurt, f. nuis-, stem of nuire injure :- L. nocēre; see -ANCE.

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T. F. HOAD. "nuisance." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "nuisance." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-nuisance.html

T. F. HOAD. "nuisance." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-nuisance.html

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