MISCARRIAGE  , in its widest sense a going astray, a failure . In

law, the word is used in several phrases; thus, a miscarriage of justice is a failure of the law to attain its ends . In the Statute of Frauds (29 Car . II., c . 3) in the expression " debt, default or miscarriage of another," the word has sometimes been interpreted as equivalent in meaning to default, but it is more usually considered to mean a species of wrongful act for the consequence of which the law makes a party civilly responsible . The term is also used (see ABORTION) for the premature expulsion of the contents of the womb before the period of gestation is complete .