complaint

com·plaint   (kəm-plānt')    n.   An expression of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment. A cause or reason for complaining; a grievance. A bodily disorder or disease; a malady or ailment. The symptom or distress about which a patient seeks medical assistance. The presentation by the plaintiff in a civil action, setting forth the claim on which relief is sought. A formal charge, made under oath, of the commission of a crime or other such offense. Law The presentation by the plaintiff in a civil action, setting forth the claim on which relief is sought. A formal charge, made under oath, of the commission of a crime or other such offense. [Middle English compleinte, from Old French complainte, from feminine past participle of complaindre, to complain; see complain.]

Main Entry: com·plaint
Function: noun
1 : the initial pleading that starts a lawsuit and that sets forth the allegations made by the plaintiff against the defendant and the plaintiff's demand for relief —see also PRAYER, PROCESS, WELL-PLEADED COMPLAINT RULE —compare ANSWER
2 : a document sworn to by a victim or police officer that sets forth a criminal violation and that serves as the charging instrument by which charges are filed and judicial proceedings commenced against a defendant in a magistrate's court —compare DECLARATION, INDICTMENT, INFORMATION
3 : PETITION

Main Entry: com·plaint
Pronunciation: k&m-'plAnt
Function: noun
: a bodily ailment or disease complaints —Morris Fishbein>

complaint

in law, the plaintiff's initial pleading, corresponding to the libel in admiralty, the bill in equity, and the claim in civil law. The complaint, called in common law a declaration, consists of a title, a statement showing venue or jurisdiction, one or more counts containing a brief formal exposition of facts giving rise to the claim asserted, and a demand for relief. Thus, it informs the defendant of the plaintiff's claim and initiates the pretrial process of narrowing the case to one or more sharply defined issues of law or fact. In common law and under early procedural codes, the task of defining the issues was performed solely by the pleadings, but modern procedural systems have added pretrial conferences and deposition and discovery procedures for this purpose.

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