The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nolle prosequi \Nol"le pros"e*qui\ [L., to be unwilling to prosecute.] (Law) Will not prosecute; -- an entry on the record, denoting that a plaintiff discontinues his suit, or the attorney for the public a prosecution; either wholly, or as to some count, or as to some of several defendants.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
formal notice to a plaintiff that the prosecutor will not continue a suit, Latin, literally "to be unwilling to pursue." The verb nolle-pross is attested from 1880.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context legal English) A declaration by the prosecutor that a civil or criminal prosecution will not proceed. 2 (context figuratively English) A refusal, a denial, a rejection. vb. (context legal transitive somewhat informal English) To issue such an declaration about a particular (charge or case).
WordNet
n. an entry in the court record to the effect that the plaintiff or prosecutor will not proceed [syn: nol pros]
v. declare that a legal case will not be prosecuted [syn: nolle pros, nol. pros.]
Wikipedia
Nolle prosequi (; ) is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges either before trial or before a verdict is rendered. It contrasts with an involuntary dismissal.
Usage examples of "nolle prosequi".
Priding myself as I do on being a preux chevalier, I like to oblige the delicately nurtured when it's feasible, but there are moments when only a nolle prosequi will serve, and I recognized this as one of them.
I will make a small wager, and I will even give odds, that the first thing Ham O'Brien does when he gets back to Mallorysport will be to enter nolle prosequi on both charges.
At the start of the trial Toy made a motion for dismissal of the case against Fleisher based on a legal motion of Nolle Prosequi (dismissal of the case without prejudice).
The case was sent to Judge Edward Jefferies, the presiding Chief Judge Jeffries then dismissed the case on the Nolle Prosequi motion.
Defense again requested that the charge be dropped: she didn't wish to waste the Court's time and public money when the evidence clearly pointed to a nolle prosequi situation.
They will get a writ of habeas corpus, and a stay of proceedings, and a supersedeas, and a new trial and a nolle prosequi, and there you are!
When an aunt has set her mind on a thing, it's no use trying to put in a nolle prosequi.