common carrier
n. an individual, a company or a public utility (like municipal buses) which is in the regular business of transporting people and/or freight. This is distinguished from a private carrier, which only transports occasionally or as a one-time-only even ...

common counts
n. claims for debt alleged in a lawsuit (included in the complaint) which are general and alleged together so that the defendant cannot squirm out of liability on some technicality on one of the counts.

common law
n. the traditional unwritten law of England, based on custom and usage, which began to develop over a thousand years before the founding of the United States.

common stock
n. stock in a corporation in which dividends (payouts) are calculated upon a percentage of net profits, with distribution determined by the board of directors.

common-law marriage
n. an agreement between a man and woman to live together as husband and wife without any legal formalities, followed and/or preceded by cohabitation on a regular basis (usually for seven years).

community property
n. property and profits received by a husband and wife during the marriage, with the exception of inheritances, specific gifts to one of the spouses, and property and profits clearly traceable to property owned before marriage, all of which is separa ...

commutation
n. the act of reducing a criminal sentence resulting from a criminal conviction by the executive clemency of the Governor of the state, or President of the United States in the case of federal crimes.