crime noun
1 illegal act
ADJ. appalling, awful, barbaric, barbarous, bloody, brutal, despicable, dreadful, grave, great, heinous, horrible, horrific, serious, terrible, vicious one of the most horrific crimes of recent times (figurative) Not returning phone calls is a grave crime in today's culture. | big, major the biggest crime since the Great Train Robbery | lesser, minor, petty He was charged with the lesser crime of possessing a forged bond, rather than actually forging it. | real She claimed that the real crime is that burglars and muggers usually get a light sentence. | violent | non-violent | perfect He boasted of having carried out the perfect crime. | notorious one of the most notorious crimes in British history | capital (= for which the penalty is death) After the reforms the only capital crimes were treason and murder. | indictable | alleged She never faced trial for her many alleged crimes. | unsolved | copycat the danger of copycat crimes in the wake of the shootings | motiveless an apparently motiveless crime | victimless Insider dealing has been called a victimless crime. | white-collar | drug-related | sex/sexual | war | political | terrorist
VERB + CRIME carry out, commit | report Many crimes are never reported to the police.
CRIME + VERB involve sth crimes involving firearms | be punishable by sth crimes punishable by death
PREP. ~ against crimes against humanity
PHRASES a crime of passion/violence, the scene of the crime No weapon was found at the scene of the crime.
2 illegal activity in general
ADJ. serious | petty | violent | non-violent | recorded | unrecorded | growing, mounting, rising | drug-related | middle-class, working-class, etc. | white-collar Corporate crime?committed by businesses?should not be confused with white-collar crime, which refers to the occupation of the perpetrator and may be directed against a business. | business, corporate | organized | juvenile, youth | international, local, regional | rural, urban | car, computer, property, street attempts to prevent hacking and computer crime | sex/sexual
VERB + CRIME carry out, commit | combat, fight, tackle | beat, crack (informal) Police forces will exchange ideas on cracking crime. | deter, prevent, stop | control, cut, reduce | detect, investigate The public have a crucial role to play in detecting crime. | solve | punish | cause | be driven to, turn to He says that bored youngsters turn to crime.
CRIME + VERB double, increase, rise
CRIME + NOUN figures, level, rate, statistics | control, prevention | problem, wave the country's crime problem | squad a senior detective with the serious crime squad | syndicate leading members of an organized crime syndicate | fiction, novel, series, story the latest TV crime series | reporter, writer the newspaper's crime reporter a new short story by the popular crime writer
PHRASES a crackdown on crime a crackdown on drug-related crime | crime and disorder, crime and punishment, fear of crime Fear of crime imprisons many elderly people in their homes. | an increase in crime, a life of crime Unemployed young people were likely to be tempted into a life of crime. | sb's partner in crime, a victim of crime Victims of crime may be able to obtain compensation. > Note at CRIME
You can also check other dicts: crime (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition