Common Scold

A person who frequently or habitually causes public disturbances or breaks the peace by brawling or quarreling.

Scolding, which was an indictable offense at Common Law but is obsolete today, did not involve a single incident but rather the repeated creation of discord.

COMMON SCOLD, Crim. law, communes rixatrix. A woman, who, in consequence of her boisterous, disorderly and quarrelsome tongue, is a public nuisance to the neighborhood.
2. Such a woman may be indicted, and on conviction, punished. At common law, the punishment was by being placed in a certain engine of correction called the trebucket or cocking stool.
3. This punishment has been abolished in Pennsylvania, where the offence may be punished by fine and imprisonment. 12 Serg. & Rawle, 220; vide 1 Russ. on Cr. 802 Hawk. B. 2, c. 25, s. 59 1 T. R. 756 4 Rogers' Rec. 90; Roscoe on Cr. Ev. 665.

common scold

Common Scold

Common Scold

common scold

Synonyms for common scold

noun someone (especially a woman) who annoys people by constantly finding fault

Synonyms

Related Words