Law Dictionary Definitions

ambitus   (am-bi-t<<schwa>>s),   n.[Latin   ambitus   “deviousness,   corruption”]   Hist.   The procuring of a public office by money or gifts; the unlawful buying and selling of a public office. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambit (am-bit).1.  A boundary line  or limit; esp., the scope  of a statute  or regulation,  or the sphere  of  influence  and  authority  of  an  agency,  committee,  department,  or  the  like.  2.  A  space surrounding a house or town. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambiguity doctrine.See CONTRA PROFERENTEM. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambiguity  (am-bi-gyoo-<<schwa>>-tee),  n.  An  uncertainty  of  meaning  or  intention,  as  in a contractual term or statutory provision. Cf. MEANING. [Cases: Contracts    143(2); Statutes    190. C.J.S. Contracts §§ 303–305; Statutes § 321.] — ambiguous (am-big-yoo-<<schwa>>s), adj. “In the context of statutory interpretation the word most frequently used to indicate the doubt which a judge must entertain…

ambiguitas  patens  (am-bi-gyoo-<<schwa>>-tas   pay-tenz).  See   patent  ambiguity   under AMBIGUITY. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambiguitas    latens    et    ambiguitas    patens    (am-bi-gyoo-<<schwa>>-tas    lay-tenz    et am-bi-gyoo-<<schwa>>-tas  pay-tenz).  [Latin]  Hist.  Latent  and  patent  ambiguity.  See  latent ambiguity and patent ambiguity under AMBI-GUITY. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambiguitas   latens   (am-bi-gyoo-<<schwa>>-tas   lay-tenz).   See   latent   ambiguity   under AMBIGUITY. [Blacks Law 8th]

ambidexter. 1. A judge or embracer who takes bribes from both sides in a dispute. 2. A lawyer who abandons the party that he or she initially represented in a dispute to represent the opposing party in the same suit. 3. A person who engages in double-dealing. “Ambidexter is he that, when a  matter is…

A.M.  Best  Company.An  investment-analysis  and  -advisory  service.  •  A.M.  Best  rates  the financial strength of businesses from A++ (strongest) to A+, A, A–, B++, and so on to C– and D. grade of E means that the company is under state supervision, and an F indicates that the company is in liquidation. [Blacks Law 8th]

Amber  Alert.A  system  by  which  the  police  can  rapidly  broadcast  to  the  general  public  a report of a  missing  or endangered  child by  means of radio and  television announcements. • The alert is named for Amber Hagerman of Texas, a nine-year-old who was abducted and murdered in 1996 by an unknown person. The system has…