Untrue; erroneous; deceitful; contrived or calculated to deceive and injure. Unlawful. In law, this word means something more than untrue; it means something designedly untrue and deceitful, and implies an intention to perpetrate some treachery or fraud. Hatcher v. Dunn, 102 Iowa, 411, 71 N. W. 343, 36 L. R. A. 689; Mason v. Association, 18 U. C. C. P. 19; Ratterman v. Ingalls, 48 Ohio St. 468, 28 N. E. 168. False action. See FEIGNED ACTION. False answer. In pleading. A sham answer; one which is false in the sense of being a mere pretense set up in bad faith and without color of fact. Howe v. Elwell, 57 App. Div. 357, 67 N. Y. Supp. 1108 ; Farnsworth v. Halstead (Sup.) 10 N. Y. Supp. 763. False character. Personating the master or mistress of a servant or any representative of such master or mistress, and giving a false character to the servant is an offense punishable in England with a fine of 20 quid. St. 32 Geo. III. c. 56. False claim, in the forest law, was where a man claimed more than his due, and was amerced and punished for the same. Manw, c. 25; Tomlins. False entry. In banking law. An entry in the books of a bank which is intentionally made to represent what is not true or does not exist, with intent either to deceive its officers or, a bank examiner or to defraud the bank. Agnew v. U. S., 165 U. S. 36, 17 Sup. Ct. 235, 41 L. Ed. 624; U. S. v. Peters (C. C.) 87 Fed. 984. False fact. In the law of evidence. A feigned, simulated, or fabricated fact; a fact not founded in truth, but existing only in assertion; the deceitful semblance of a fact. False imprisonment. See IMPRISONMENT. False instrument. A counterfeit; one made in the similitude of a genuine instrument and purporting on its face to be such. U. S. v. Howell. 11 Wall. 435. 20 L. Ed. 105; TJ. S. v. Owens (a C.) 37 Fed. 115: State v. Willson, 28 Minn. 52, 9 N. W. 28. False judgment. In old English law. A writ which lay when a false judgment had been pronounced in a court not of record, as a county court, court baron, etc. Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 17, 18. In old French law. The defeated party in a suit had the privilege of accusing the judges of pronouncing a false or corrupt judgment, whereupon the issue was determined by his challenging them to the combat or duellum. This was called the “appeal of false judgment.” Montesq. Esprit des Lois, liv. 28, c. 27. False Latin. When law proceedings were written in Latin, if a word were significant though not good Latin, yet an indictment, declaration, or fine should not be made void by it; but if the word were not Latin, nor allowed by the law, and it were in a material point, it made the whole vicious. (5 Coke, 121: 2 Nels. 830.) Wharton. False lights and signals. Lights and signals falsely and maliciously displayed lor the purpose of bringing a vessel into danger. False news. Spreading false news, whereby discord may grow between the queen of England and her people, or the great men of the realm, or which may produce other mischiefs, still seems to be a misdemeanor, under St. 3 Edw. I. c. 34. Steph. Cr. Dig. s 95. False oath. See PERJURY. False personation. The criminal offense of falsely representing some other person and acting in the character thus unlawfully assumed, in order to deceive others, and thereby gain some profit or advantage, or enjoy some right or privilege belonging to the one so personated, or subject him to some expense, charge, or liability. See 4 Steph. Comm. 181, 290. False plea. See SHAM PLEA. False pretenses. In criminal law. False representations and statements, made with a fraudulent design to obtain money, goods, wares, or merchandise, with intent to cheat. 2 Bouv. Inst. no. 2308. A representation of some fact or circumstance, calculated to mislead, which is not true. Com. v. Drew, 19 Pick. (Mass.) 184; State v. Grant, 86 Iowa, 216, 53 N. W. 120. False statements or representations made with intent to defraud, for the purpose of obtaining money or property. A pretense is the holding out or offering to others something false and feigned. This may be done either by words or actions, which amount to false representations. In fact, false representations are inseparable from the idea of a pretense. Without a representation which is false there can be no pretense. State v. Joaquin, 43 Iowa, 132. False representation. See FRAUD; DECEIT. False return. See RETURN. False swearing. The misdemeanor committed in English law by a person who swears falsely before any person authorized to administer an oath upon a matter of public concern, under such circumstances that the false swearing would have amounted to perjury if committed in a judicial proceeding: as where a person makes a false affidavit under the bills of sale acts. Steph. Cr. Dig. p. 84. And see O’Bryan v. State, 27 Tex. App. 339, 11 S. W. 443. False token. In criminal law. A false document or sign of the existence of a fact, used with intent to defraud, for the purpose of obtaining money or property. State y. Renlck. 33 Or. 584, 56 Pac. 275, 44 L. R. A. 266, 72 Am. St. Rep. 758; People v. Stone, 9 Wend. (N. Y.) 188. False verdict. See VERDICT. False weights. False weights and measures are such as do not comply with the standard prescribed by the state or government, or with the custom prevailing in the place and business in which they are used. Pen. Code Cal. 1903, s 552;. Pen. Code Idaho, 1901, s 5003.