| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| crime |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  kr m |
| NOUN: | 1. An act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction. 2. Unlawful activity: statistics relating to violent crime. 3. A serious offense, especially one in violation of morality. 4. An unjust, senseless, or disgraceful act or condition: It's a crime to squander our country's natural resources. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin crmen. See krei- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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