Anticrime
an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited.
activity and those engaged in it:
to fight crime.
the habitual or frequent commission of crimes:
a life of crime.
any offense, serious wrongdoing, or sin.
a foolish, senseless, or shameful act:
It’s a crime to let that beautiful garden go to ruin.
Contemporary Examples
Elected mayor on the strength of an anticrime platform, Edward I. Koch had just taken office.
The Studio 54 of Sex Jon Hart April 6, 2009
noun
an act or omission prohibited and punished by law
unlawful acts in general: a wave of crime
(as modifier): crime wave
an evil act
(informal) something to be regretted: it is a crime that he died young
n.
mid-13c., “sinfulness,” from Old French crimne (12c., Modern French crime), from Latin crimen (genitive criminis) “charge, indictment, accusation; crime, fault, offense,” perhaps from cernere “to decide, to sift” (see crisis). But Klein (citing Brugmann) rejects this and suggests *cri-men, which originally would have been “cry of distress” (Tucker also suggests a root in “cry” words and refers to English plaint, plaintiff, etc.). Meaning “offense punishable by law” is from late 14c. The Latin word is glossed in Old English by facen, also “deceit, fraud, treachery.” Crime wave first attested 1893, American English.
Related Terms
copycat crime
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