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nuisance - 6 dictionary results

nui⋅sance

  [noo-suhns, nyoo-]
Use nuisance in a Sentence
–noun
1. an obnoxious or annoying person, thing, condition, practice, etc.: a monthly meeting that was more nuisance than pleasure.
2. Law. something offensive or annoying to individuals or to the community, esp. in violation of their legal rights.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME nu(i)sa(u)nce < AF, equiv. to nuis(er) to harm (≪ L nocēre) + -ance -ance
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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nui·sance   (nōō'səns, nyōō'-)   
n.  
  1. One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother: Having to stand in line was a nuisance. The disruptive child was a nuisance to the class.
  2. Law A use of property or course of conduct that interferes with the legal rights of others by causing damage, annoyance, or inconvenience.

[Middle English, from Old French, from nuire, nuis-, to harm, from Vulgar Latin *nocere, from Latin nocēre; see nek-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Nuisance

Nui"sance\, n. [OE. noisance, OF. noisance, nuisance, fr. L. nocentia guilt, fr. nocere to hurt, harm; akin to necare to kill. Cf Necromancy, Nocent, Noxious, Pernicious.] That which annoys or gives trouble and vexation; that which is offensive or noxious.

Note: Nuisances are public when they annoy citizens in general; private, when they affect individuals only.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : nuisance
Spanish: molestia, fastidio,
German: die Plage,
Japanese: うるさいもの
More Translations »

nuisance 
c.1410, "injury, hurt, harm," from Anglo-Fr. nusaunce, from O.Fr. nuisance, from pp. stem of nuire "to harm," from L. nocere "to hurt" (see noxious). Sense has softened over time, to "anything obnoxious to a community" (bad smells, pests, eyesores), 1661, then "source of annoyance, something personally disagreeable" (1831). Applied to persons from 1695.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: nui·sance
Pronunciation: 'nüs-&ns, 'nyüs-
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French nusaunce, from Old French nuire to harm, from Latin nocEre
: something (as an act, object, or practice) that invades or interferes with another's rights or interests (as the use or enjoyment of property) by being offensive, annoying, dangerous, obstructive, or unhealthful
at·trac·tive nuisance
1 : a thing or condition on one's property that poses a risk to children who may be attracted to it without realizing the risk by virtue of their youth
2 : a doctrine or theory employed in most jurisdictions: a possessor of property may be liable for injury caused to a trespassing or invited child by a condition on the property if he or she failed to use ordinary care in preventing such injury (as by fencing in a pool) and had reason to foresee entry by the child and if the utility of the condition was minor compared to the likelihood of injury attractive nuisance…to moving trains —Honeycutt v. City of Wichita, 796 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 549 (1990)>
NOTE: The doctrine of attractive nuisance originated in an 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Company v. Stout, 84 U.S. 657 (1873), involving a trespassing child injured by a railroad turntable; an early premise was that the attractive nuisance caused the trespass, and so by extension the owner was responsible for the trespass as well. Subsequent modification of the doctrine has focused on the possessor's duty to use care in preventing injury, whether a child is a trespasser or invitee.
common nuisance
: PUBLIC NUISANCE in this entry
nuisance at law
: NUISANCE PER SE in this entry
nuisance in fact
: an act, occupation, or structure that is considered a nuisance in relation to its circumstances or surroundings nuisance in fact in a particular location> called also nuisance per accidens —compare NUISANCE PER SE in this entry
nuisance per se
: an act, occupation, or structure that is considered a nuisance regardless of its circumstances or surroundings nuisance per se> called also nuisance at law —compare NUISANCE IN FACT in this entry
private nuisance
: something (as an activity) that constitutes an unreasonable interference in the right to the use and enjoyment of one's property and that may be a cause of action in civil litigation
public nuisance
: something that unreasonably interferes with the health, safety, comfort, morals, or convenience of the community and that is treated as a criminal violation public nuisance and ordered…operations to cease —SCA Servs. v. Transportation Insurance Company, 646 North Eastern Reporter, Second Series 394 (1995)> called also common nuisance
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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nuisance

see make a nuisance of oneself.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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